So… SpaceX just IPO’d at a $1.77T valuation. Biggest ever. OpenAI and Anthropic are reportedly lining up next. Meanwhile your feed looks like everyone’s investment account just discovered rocket fuel.
And it feels like you’re supposed to do something about it.
You’re not.
Monday morning should look exactly the same as last week.
Here’s the thing about social media and investing: you’re only seeing the highlight reel.
Someone posts a screenshot showing they’re up +412% in 11 months, and the comments immediately turn into “what stock??” and “teach me!”
But behind the scenes? It’s usually a very different flight path. They’ve got a bunch of other positions quietly bleeding out, the starting amount was tiny, and they probably panic-sold something else last year that would’ve done just fine if they’d left it alone.
In reality, here’s what you typically don’t see:
- 8 other positions down 60%
- they put in $300, so the “412% gain” is $1,200
- they panic sold last year all their other positions
It’s like watching a pilot post their smoothest landing ever, you’re not seeing the three go-arounds before it.
After a while, your brain starts doing that thing: everyone’s making money except me. That’s when people start chasing the next hot IPO like it’s the last boarding call.
And when your coworkers, your friends, and even your barber are talking about it… yeah, it feels almost irrational to sit it out.
That’s exactly when you need to sit on your hands.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: companies tend to go public when everything looks great; valuations are high, excitement is high, and demand is strong.
That’s perfect timing… if you’re the founder or an early investor stepping off the plane.
Not always great if you’re sprinting down the jet bridge to buy on day one.
Take SpaceX right now; it popped right away. It might keep climbing. It might not. Nobody knows. Anyone telling you they do is basically flying without instruments.
We’ve seen this movie before. Zoom ran from $60 to $500 in a year and everyone piled in. Then over the following years it dropped hard while the broader market just kept quietly compounding in the background.
That’s the part that’s easy to forget: boring tends to win.
If you’re already investing in broad index funds or ETF – like ITOT (My favorite), FSKAX, VTI, VOO, or VT – you’re not missing out. You already own the engines that are driving all this hype.
And when companies like SpaceX eventually get added to major indexes, your fund will pick them up automatically. No guesswork, no timing, no dramatic “all in” moment.
You don’t need to identify the next rocket ship. You’re already on the runway with all of them.
Let me zoom out for a second.
Back in early 2020, the market dropped 34% in a matter of weeks. Almost half of investors sold. Totally understandable, everything looked like it was falling apart.
But most of those people regret it now, because from that bottom the market just kept climbing.
The people who did the best weren’t the ones trying to time entries or chase headlines.
They were the ones who basically did nothing.
Not sexy. Not exciting. But incredibly effective.
So what should you actually do right now?
Honestly, it’s not complicated.
Make sure your allocation makes sense for you. If you can’t sleep when the market drops 20–30%, you’re probably taking on too much risk. If you’re young and can ride out volatility, then leaning into equities can make sense.
Keep your costs low. Fees are like a slow leak in your fuel tank; you might not notice it at first, but it absolutely matters over a long flight. A mutual fund charging 1% in fees needs to outperform by ~1% every single year just to break even with a 0.03% index fund. Over the long run, the S&P 500 has returned ~10% annually. Don’t give that away in fees.
Automate your investing so you don’t have to think about it. Set it up, let it run, and resist the urge to “check the cockpit” every five minutes.
And most importantly, don’t try to time this stuff. Not IPOs, not tops, not whatever headline is getting the most likes this week. Not your friends Facebook or TikTok post.
At the end of the day, your job is pretty simple.
Tune out the noise.
Stay diversified.
Keep costs low.
Let time do its thing.
No fancy maneuvers are required.
Just a steady hand on the controls and a long enough runway.
