I still maintain the importance of tracking your net worth in helping people to pay more attention to their money. But what if you are already paying attention and things aren’t exactly going your way? What if, while you’re paying attention to your money, you’re watching into it dwindle at a rapid pace? I gotta say, it’s not fun! When this happens, it’s time to set the net worth aside and focus on Stacking Shares.

I’m stealing a little bit from the Bitcoin dictionary here, where the focus is on Stacking Sats–short for Satoshis–which are the fractional shares of a full Bitcoin and much more attainable for stacking purposes. When you focus on Stacking Sats, you’re doing so with the mindset that one Bitcoin is always worth one Bitcoin, no matter what the market says in dollar value. If you’re a long-term investor, Stacking Shares follows the same line of thinking. One share of VTSAX will only go up in value over the course of your investing lifetime, so the inevitable drawdowns that occur are not the focus. The focus is on Stacking more Shares.

It’s an unnerving experience to build up a somewhat significant amount of money from years of hard work only to watch it come crashing down. The temptation exists to sell those falling investments and get back into cash and the illusion of safety it provides. Don’t do this! Instead, stack those shares. Commit to buying and holding index funds for the long term, and you’ll see a positive in these turbulent times.

Stacking Shares during a drawdown

When I first started investing, rather than getting my jollies from the gains made on my net worth spreadsheet, I forced myself to focus on my lowering my cost basis as the market dropped. Cost basis is simply the average price paid for a given investment. When purchasing shares as the market dropped, my cost basis went lower too, since I was buying new shares “on sale” from what I previously purchased. Focusing on cost basis works when you invest in something and the price declines, but over time you’ll inevitably increase your cost basis with continued buying as the asset price goes up–which is a good thing! That’s when it’s time to focus on Stacking Shares, regardless of the price.

I continue to dollar cost average into VTSAX in my brokerage account via automatic monthly contributions. When the market crashes, I’m simply buying the same shares of VTSAX that I normally buy—but at a discounted price. This is easy enough to remember in principle, but much harder to stick to when the sky is falling around you. For this reason, automation is the key. Don’t even give yourself the option of NOT purchasing more shares, as human nature might cause you to miss an excellent buying opportunity.

Just as watching that cost basis drop was an oddly satisfying experience despite the circumstances, I now get a twisted pleasure in counting the number of shares that I own. Even during months when the net worth takes a beating.

Win the mental game when the market falls

Shifting my focus to the cost basis and now to Stacking Shares, rather than dwelling on the plumeting net worth number, has helped to lower my anxiety about the market crash in real time. It reminds me that I’m in it for the long haul and temporary stock sales are to my benefit. The ability to buy more shares with my automatic monthly investments has warped my brain in the best possible way. Now, I’m almost disappointed when the market shoots back upwards and I am no longer buying stocks on sale.

Almost.

The point is, so long as you aren’t planning on selling your investments any time soon, you should be rooting for these buying opportunities to occur every so often. The longer you invest, the less likely you are to have the ability to buy shares for a cheaper price than your average cost. But newbies will get to see that cost basis number decline–and know that it’s the best thing for them. The rest of us will take solace in Stacking Shares, with virtual certainty that these purchases will be some of the best in our investing lives.

Keep tracking and paying attention to that net worth, but maybe pay a little less attention when it’s going backwards. If you have automatic investments set up via a 401k or your own Roth IRA or brokerage account (which hopefully you do), revel in the cheap thrill of Stacking Shares at an increased rate when the prices are down 10, 20, or even 30 percent.