How Do I Invest When the News Keeps Shaking the Market?

Summary

Ramsey Everyday Millionaires

Episode: How Do I Invest When the News Keeps Shaking the Market?
Date: May 18, 2026
Host(s): Ramsey Network (featuring Rachel Cruze and George Kamel)
Guest: Sally from Los Angeles

---

Episode Overview

This episode addresses a recurring concern among everyday investors: "How do I invest when the news keeps shaking the market?" The hosts field a call from Sally, who recently came into a substantial sum of money and wants to invest wisely amidst economic uncertainty and market volatility. The discussion focuses on practical investment strategies, emotional challenges, and the importance of long-term thinking, especially for those who are new to managing significant savings.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sally’s Situation: Navigating a Newfound Nest Egg

• Sally recently sold her house, netting about $300,000 (tax-free).
• She has invested $50,000 into index funds but is anxious about market swings and feels "irresponsible" letting her money just sit.
• She and her husband are financially stable, have no debt, and live in a high-cost area where immediate home buying is not an option.
• [00:22-01:57]

Sally: “I'm like, I want to move, but I feel like I’m almost playing hopscotch here... I don’t want to be irresponsible.” (00:32)

---

2. Time Horizons: The Four-Year Benchmark

• Hosts recommend treating investing as a minimum four-year commitment to weather market volatility.
• Money needed in less than four years should not be invested due to the risk of short-term losses.
• Emphasize long-term goals such as eventually re-entering homeownership.
• [02:34-03:50]

Host: “We always say investing, you want to give it around a four-year kind of benchmark... If you looked at the last 30 days, yeah, it looks insane. But that's not always the case.” (03:03)

---

3. The Case for Index Funds & Dollar-Cost Averaging

• Sally has already invested in an index fund (VOO).
• Hosts encourage her to keep adding to her investments consistently (“auto invest”), crediting the safety and diversification they offer.
• Mutual funds and index funds track the broad market and are less risky than picking single stocks.
• [05:15-07:47]

George Kamel: “Time in the market beats timing the market... Only God knows what's going to happen. It’s just easier to not look at it and let it ride.” (04:40)

Rachel Cruze: “You can invest the rest in there and let it ride and keep adding to it every single month... Five, six, seven years from now, it’s probably going to be closer to 700 grand if you do it this way.” (05:38)

---

4. Managing Emotional Responses & News-Driven Anxiety

• Both hosts share their own experiences of anxiety over market drops, reinforcing that almost everyone feels uneasy with volatility.
• They recommend only looking at account balances once a year to avoid unnecessary stress.
• The news often amplifies bad outcomes and rarely highlights long-term gains.
• [06:05-08:54]

Rachel Cruze: “I would give myself a panic attack every time I looked at the market. To your point, specifically right now…” (06:05)

George Kamel: “Nobody looks when it’s up and doing great... I never look at it less than a three-year chart; the further back you go, the more up and to the right it goes.” (06:18, 08:27)

---

5. Perspective for First-Generation Wealth Builders

• Sally expresses anxiety about not wanting to “mess it up” as someone who didn’t grow up with money.
• The hosts provide reassurance, reinforcing that her caution and desire to learn are signs she’s on the right path.
• Encouragement to keep researching and lean into that cautious spirit while building confidence as an investor.
• [08:54-09:15]

Sally: “I’ve never...I’m thrilled that I’m here today, now having this opportunity, and I’m like, oh, don’t mess it up.” (08:57)

Rachel Cruze: “You’re doing great. You’re doing better than you think.” (09:09)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Time in the market beats timing the market.” – George Kamel (04:40)
• “If every company in America goes bankrupt, we’ve got bigger fish to fry...” – George Kamel (08:19)
• “Keep up the ride.” – George Kamel (08:54)
• “In that caution, that’s a good spirit to have.” – Rachel Cruze (09:11)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:22] Sally’s big picture financial overview
• [01:59] Discussion about homeownership as a long-term goal
• [03:04] Four-year minimum for investing, market volatility context
• [04:40] Long-term perspective, “time in the market” philosophy
• [05:38] Practical advice on auto-investing and projections
• [06:05] Managing emotional reactions to market swings
• [08:27] Looking at long-term charts vs. short-term panic
• [08:54] Reassurance for new and first-generation investors

---

Takeaways

• Invest for the long term: Commit to at least four years before you plan to touch invested money.
• Use diversified index or mutual funds, not single stocks, especially for first-timers or those anxious about volatility.
• Dollar-cost average: Regularly and automatically add to your investment regardless of market headlines.
• Limit emotional stress: Check balances infrequently and avoid getting caught up in news cycles and daily market swings.
• If you’re new to wealth: Caution, education, and research are strengths. Trust in the process and lean on proven strategies.

---

Summary:
If the news is shaking your faith in the markets, the Ramsey team says: focus on the long term, lean into well-founded investment strategies like index funds, and don’t let short-term volatility steer your decisions. Building lasting wealth is more about consistent, disciplined investing than reacting to the headlines.

Transcript

[A]

This episode is brought to you by SmartVestor. Connect with an investing pro near you at RamseySolutions.com SmartVestor up next, we have

[B]

Sally in Los Angeles. Hi, Sally, welcome to the show.

[C]

Hi, thanks for having me.

[B]

Yes, absolutely. How can we help?

[C]

Big picture. I recently sold my house and I was able to get about 300,000 kind of tax free because I didn't have to qualify to do any capital gains on it because I lived in it in the past couple years and whatnot. And now I'm sitting on this little nest egg of mine and I keep. I've invested like the first 50,000 into stock and there's obviously some fluctuations on a day to day basis based on, you know what the President of the United States sometimes also tweets. Things change and whatnot. What do you mean, Sally? What do you mean? What if we. I just like, I'm like, I want to move, but I feel like I'm almost playing like hopscotch here where I'm like, no, can I go now? And I'm like, I. Right now it's just sitting there. And I'm like, I'm thrilled I have it, but I also don't want to be irresponsible.

[B]

Are you needing this money anytime soon or were you looking at this just to put away for years down the road?

[C]

I'm looking to put it away. I think that is the best solution for me. I. My husband and I were doing fine, pretty much. He's covering all the current expenses. We have toddler, we're doing it and we don't have any debt or anything along those lines. I don't feel like I can purchase anything with what I have in our current area. It's a high cost of living area, so that's not really an option either. It can be put away for a moment, but I'd also like to maximize some of my earning possibilities for it as well.

[B]

For sure. So do you guys own a home?

[C]

Well, he owns a home that we don't currently live in. He's renting it out. I also was renting out my old house before I sold it. And honestly, I sold it because I was like, I hate being a landlord. This is not the business for me. So much anxiety.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So we have homes. We have, you know, the. Was it like. So we have the deductions from like being homeowners. We also have deductions from being parents. And so, um, in this specific area, it's quite expensive. So it's like, I don't Know if my little nugget would really make much of a dent.

[B]

Well, I think eventually you guys need to talk about home ownership. So whether that's you guys moving back into maybe the home that he owns that. Are you guys, you guys are married?

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, homeownership needs to be a, a long term goal for you guys. And I know that you're in an expensive area, but for your, you know, financial future, ongoing home ownership will be the cheapest route because rent will just continue to go up. Right. So, so letting that.

[C]

Totally agree.

[B]

Yes. So letting that be a goal which this money could be used for. And I understand you're saying not right now, which is totally fine. So we always say investing, you want to give it around a four year kind of benchmark. So to give it four years to do the up and down and in that time there'll be an election, like. Right, all of that. Right. So you think about the time frame. That kind of feels good to, to r the highs and lows if you're going to use this money down the road. So if you're going to use it less than five, than four to five years, I would not invest it. But if you think you're going to keep it in somewhere for four to five years, then yes, investing still for me would be the answer. Because we're not looking at what you're saying a 30 day span. Right. If you looked at the last 30 days, yeah, it looks insane. But that's not always the case. In fact, last year the market was what, 20.

[A]

Over 20%.

[B]

20% last year, which is just exactly.

[C]

I don't want to even do like a high interest like savings account and like I just feel like that's like money left on the table.

[B]

That's right. That's right. So that's why the investing has a long term, you have to have a long term mindset. And so right now actually, which George, you talk about this in your book Breaking Free from Broke. When you buy low, which is what it is, you know, right now with the volatility, you're actually going to get to buy more shares, if you will. So as everything goes up, you kind of have more eggs in your basket if you, when the market does go up. Because over the course of, you know, the trajectory of the, of what the stock market has done since its inception, like it does go up, the American economy overall goes up. So that just means you actually are going to be making more down the road if you buy now low. But that's kind of an investor's mindset.

[A]

Yeah. I always like to say time in the market beats timing the market. And right now, Sally, it's stressful because you're trying to time the market and only God knows what's going to happen.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And so it's just easier to not look at it and just know I'm going to lock this money away and just let it ride and keep adding to it. And then four or five years from now, you're going to look up and there could be 5, 600 grand in there. And now that's a serious down payment, even with the prices in L. A five years from now. And so I would make it a goal and say, you know what, Instead of going, well, we can't buy a house, just go, we're going to buy a house and we're going to save up $500,000 as a down payment to do that.

[C]

Yeah, I like, so what is invested in?

[A]

Because you said I'm invested in stocks and that scared me. Do you mean single stocks or like an index fund?

[C]

No, index. And honestly, I don't feel like the most fluid was having this conversation on that topic. I right now just have like, I took 50,000 of that 300 and it's in like VO and then the rest is just like sitting here.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You can invest the rest in there and let it ride and keep adding to it every single month. Make it a goal. Hey, we're going to add $3,000 a month to this. That's 36 grand a year growing for us with compound growth. And you can do some projections and see that five, six, seven years from now, it's probably going to be closer to 700 grand if you do it this way. And then when you have enough to where you can go, all right, we can take out a mortgage. It's going to be 25% or less of our take home pay, 15 year fixed. Let's go ahead and pull the trigger and get this house.

[B]

And I get it, Sally. I mean, and when I think about investing personally, I really, I look maybe once a year at what's going on because I would give myself a panic attack every time I looked at the market. To your point specifically right now, you

[A]

only look when it's down. Nobody looks when it's up and doing great.

[B]

That's right. And that doesn't hit the nose either. Right. It was not like flashing all over everywhere of how, how amazing the last

[A]

year, every record high we've hit.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, the last Two years have been insane and then this year not so great. But that's what we're, that's what we're seeing in the news. And so. And I get it. Winston and I actually had some money in a high yield savings that we actually talked to you about this and we pulled some of it and invested it. Literally. Sally. I think like 32 days ago, it was like right before everything hit the fan and Winston and I were like, oh, that's to see it go down. Like we. And I was like, this is why I don't. This is why I do not look. Because most of the stuff, you know,

[A]

I'm like, the vending machine money.

[B]

Yes. That's how it felt. But then I know I go back to my brain of what I just talked you through, of what I know, and I'm like, we're not needing this money for, you know, couple of years. So like just let it ride and let it do its thing. So that, that is what, you know, what you would have to do. And it would be the smartest thing. I would still do what we did.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Again, because I know what's happening, you

[A]

know, and if you can, Sally, I would auto invest it. And that way it's out of sight, out of mind. I don't want to see the money. I want to just leave and go straight to that investment. I don't want to touch it.

[B]

And the reason you can be so, you know, blinded by it, if you will, is because what you're investing in is, is, has. It has a good track record. Right. What we talk about with index funds or even mutual funds is you are buying, you know, 290 to 200 stock in a mutual fund. And even with some of the index funds, you know, it's the s and P500 in general.

[A]

Top 500 companies.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Based on market.

[B]

And so that's why you can kind of not have to look at it and feel like you have to manage it because it's just doing what the economy is going to do. Right. It just kind of rides that wave versus stressing about Apple or Tesla or whatever. Right. If you're trying to manage single stocks and all of it. So that's kind of the beauty of that diversification method that index funds or mutual funds give you, gives you, is because there's, there's a lot of kind of safety in it. Because if it all, if it all hits right down and it. And it all kind of falls out, then the American economy is done. Done.

[A]

So we got bigger fish to fry. If every company in America goes bankrupt, we're like, all right, this is the end.

[B]

That's when. Hoarder Rachel.

[A]

What's helpful for me, Sally, is when you're looking at the line graph of, like, returns on whatever investment you have. I never look at it less than a three year, because if you look at a one week, a one month, you're freaking out even one year. But when you look three years, five years, 10 years, the further back you go, the more up and to the right it goes. And so that's just a good perspective to have that you are investing for the long term. It doesn't matter if you, on paper, lost $20,000, because you didn't. You didn't sell. You hung onto it.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So keep, Keep up the ride.

[C]

I think I need to just have talked, like, get out of my way, because I've never. I don't come from money. I've never. I'm thrilled that I'm here today, now having this opportunity, and I'm like, oh, don't mess it up.

[B]

Yes, you're doing great.

[A]

You're doing better than you think.

[B]

You know, in that caution, that's a good spirit to have. I mean, honestly, to really research. Yes. Research and understanding, you have to feel good about it. But George and I, that's what we do personally, so we would not tell you something that we. We wouldn't do.