When the Fence Falls and the Market Swings
Last month, a 120-foot tree came crashing down in a storm, landing squarely on our backyard fence. It wasn’t just a section—it flattened the whole thing along one side of the property. We now need to replace nearly the entire fence line, an expense we didn’t plan for but can’t delay.
That next day, I found myself watching the stock market bounce—up in the morning, sharply down by the afternoon. The emotional contrast was jarring. One was a tangible, visible loss. The other, a persistent tug-of-war on the screen that chips away at your sense of financial security.
My wife and I have worked incredibly hard to save for retirement. Years of discipline, budgeting, and planning have gone into building what we hope will be a stable future. But when a sudden home repair coincides with a week of market volatility, the questions start creeping in.
Should we delay the repair? Should we adjust our retirement philosophy? Are we still on track?
Who would believe that a fence and the stock market are so intertwined. Now, my wife asks “how are the prospects of my fence being replaced?” And my answer is always about the stock market. Two different, separate issues connected in our daily conversations.
The most challenging part isn’t the dollars and cents—it’s the emotional whiplash. Watching your portfolio value shift by thousands of dollars in a single day is exhausting. And it’s not just theoretical. These swings affect how we make real-life decisions, like when to tackle necessary expenses or whether to reallocate resources. The market’s rhythm seems to be influencing the cadence of our personal lives more than it should.
We’ve never tried to “beat the market.” That’s not investing—that’s gambling. And over time, it’s a bet few ever win. But that doesn’t mean we’re immune to the psychological toll of watching our savings rise and fall, especially when unexpected costs like a fallen tree remind us that life rarely aligns with the market’s timing.
What this situation reinforces for me is the importance of long-term thinking. The fence needs to be replaced, just like our retirement needs to be funded. Both matter. And while the market will continue its rollercoaster, we’ll keep doing what we’ve always done: plan carefully, spend thoughtfully, and stay grounded in our goals.
The tree came down in a matter of seconds. Our future, thankfully, is being built with more patience.
