They deleted my thread so here it is again:
Only a couple years ago, I landed a high-paying job. I never really knew anything about investing or personal finance because I didn't really have anything ever left over to invest. I had no financial goals or plans so I started investing in index funds because that's what I was told to do so I wouldn't lose out to inflation. I accumulated roughly $59k after feeding index funds in a taxable brokerage account. This was the result of putting in about $51k over a couple years or so.
Well...that $59k dropped to $47-48k recently. Once the dip/correction hit, I stopped putting $ into the market (outside of an HSA and my 401k) and focused solely on saving money in a HYSA because I came to the conclusion I would like to buy a home in the next few years. I soon had $60k in savings and $48k in the market. I feared a huge drop/recession and didn't like having such a large portion of what will likely be my down payment invested so I decided to get out. On Wednesday, after the surge, I sold and walked away with just over $49k (now in the HYSA as well) which resulted in a $1,300 loss from my initial investment. I'm also ashamed to admit I tried dabbling in crypto briefly, bought at a high, realized it wasn't for me, and also walked away losing a couple grand.
And now the market is still humming along while I'm missing out on any of those gains. Looking back, I shouldn't have been investing at all, but I didn't think a home purchase was possible. I would've broke even if I had stayed in just a few more days and sold today. I’d prefer to not be invested in anything at all and just save, but unfortunately that’s not an option due to how the economy works.
I think the plan going forward is to continue focusing on saving for the house while throwing $50-100 a week into FXAIX. This will be $ I won't be touching in the short term. I'll continue to max my 401k and HSA as well. I feel foolish for trying to time the market and ever getting involved in crypto and wish I had the $3.5k back. It's an expensive lesson. I’ve actually picked up OT working the last three weekends (and will likely continue to) because I feel so stupid for losing the $. Don't be like me.