As someone who’s very pro-stock-market & been through a few of the bumps that come with that choice, I do appreciate you sharing your point of view on it.

If you can find a way to cover your expenses, beat inflation and have enough to provide stability for yourself/those you care about, being in something that causes you so much anxiety doesn’t make sense. It’ll constantly bring down your quality of living and I can tell that’s important to you.

I’m sure at different points in life my views on investing may change especially as my risk tolerance decreases. So in knowing that I’m mainly building a passive portfolio so I can be emotionally detached from it in the long run. I leave a small percentage for fun so I don’t feel restricted and can get that out of my system without damaging my core portfolio.

I hope you’re feeling more at ease now and that you’ve managed to bring down your cost of living even further.