I have fond memories of Black Friday as a teenager. Every year my mom and I would wake up in the wee hours of the morning and drive to the outlets for clothes shopping. Tommy Hilfiger was my brand of choice, and it was always the first store we visited. The weather was freezing, and yet the crowds were still massive. The lure of low prices overpowers humans’ desires for warmth and comfort.

But it overpowers a lot more than that! Steep discounts elicit all sorts of bad behavior. Otherwise well-behaved, upstanding citizens turn into animals and fight over big screens and washing machines as if life depended on it. The interwebs are teeming with videos of fist-fighting hoodlums storming Walmart.

Craziness aside, lower prices create pleasure for rational consumers. Everyone loves a sale. It’s in our DNA. Except when it comes to the stock market. In this twisted realm, bargains create bozos.

A Sale? Kill me Now!

If lower prices should induce pleasure, then why do so many feel pain when stocks plummet? When bear markets strike, the weeping and wailing at the New York Stock Exchange can be heard for blocks. But why? Why do people flock to fire sales on Main Street while fleeing them on Wall Street?

The answer, of course, is because these hurting souls already own stocks! And nobody likes to see the value of their precious assets crumbling. It torpedos the ego and pushes retirement even further down the road. Imaginations run wild and frightened investors wonder if the 30% drop is just the beginning.

But let’s think about this.

There are two classes of investors. Those that are still in the accumulation phase of life and those that aren’t. The former group describes most of us. We have decades to go before the Grim Reaper arrives. So should we not cheer discounts? Should we not pray for lower prices so each dollar invested can buy that many more shares?

Yes. We should! But we don’t, because we’re too obsessed about the pain inflicted by our existing holdings. I’ve found a few things to help shift my perspective.

First. Realize the selloff (pain) is temporary. The market will recover eventually. That’s the lesson of history.

Second. The pain is likely small compared to the big pleasure awaiting in the future if you invest at these lower prices. Did you want to invest this year’s IRA contributions at all-time highs? I didn’t think so. You don’t get to buy at discounted prices unless you’re willing to experience temporary pain on existing holdings. That’s just the way it goes.

My favorite pitch for how to properly view crashes can be found on page 222 of The Intelligent Investor revised edition with commentary by Jason Zweig. Take a read below:

The only way to turn short-term pain into long-term pleasure is by investing during downturns. Bear markets create fertile fields ready for planting. Too many fearful farmers keep their seeds locked tight in the barn. Don’t be one of them. Sow away. Oh, and using a capital deployment scheme like this one will help.

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