<prompt> Human: Ok...so Im still young and early in my journey to saving for retirement. I have a Roth IRA, several mutual funds, savings account, etc.Forgive me if this is totally naive or common knowledge or a dumb question, but...If the stock market has always recovered AND THEN some, why do people freak out over crashes? Sure, you lose money, but youll get it back and you can buy low, right?If youre thinking long-term, dont the historical returns give confidence that everything will be fine? Yeah, theyre no guarantee of future returns, but why does everyone panic and sell?I met a 62 year old this week who said that her and her husband sold everything after 2008 so they could get out of the stock market. They lost 30-40 percent of their money from the crash. Theyve been in bonds since and have averaged 1 over the last 5 years. From what Ive read, had people stayed and invested in the aftermath of 2008, theyd be up 170 today.Im just confused about the panic over crashes. Yes, it sucks...but if it recovers??? So what?Am I being stupid? Please help me understand.Assistant: You ever lost your entire life savings in one day?Telling people that if they wait a decade, itll return, isnt that much of a consolation.Human: But isnt that better than pulling out and permanently losing everything?  <response>: You dont understand how some people feel.A friend has lost 15k in a few days. Another friend lost 50-70k over a few months but he was cooler, didnt panic sell, even doubled down on some stocks LOL and is now up. Once you have experienced the above then you come back to post about weathering the storm. 