Ask Paul: I finally invested – then lost money straight away

She finally took the plunge into ETFs, then watched her portfolio fall almost immediately. Is it a mistake, or the reality of long-term investing?

Reader question

Hi Paul,

I put $25,000 into ETFs and quickly lost up to $2000. Did I panic too soon or make a big mistake?

I am 44 years old, own my own unit outright with a market value of about $800,000. I have no dependants and no debts.

I work four days a week, have pre-tax salary of $95,000 per year and $220,000 in super.

I salary sacrifice an additional $400 fortnightly and have $140,000 in high-interest savings accounts.

I hope to continue low-risk investment strategies to build my savings for a comfortable, not extravagant, and early if possible, retirement. Low confidence has stopped me investing in the sharemarket.

I have attended a number of ETF seminars, and, in September 2025, built the courage to invest $25,000 in ETFs using the online trading platform Moomoo.

I have invested 80%-90% in what I understand are two well-known large cap ETFs and 5% in two small cap ETFs for diversification.

I am hopeful of average returns over the next 20 years, understanding there will be ups and downs.

But what little confidence I had when first investing has quickly evaporated as my portfolio is $1500-$2000 down on my initial investment.

What am I doing wrong? Am I over-reacting? Should I continue investing as per my current plan? I would appreciate your advice. - Tania

Paul's response

First up, Tania, congratulations on buying and paying off your unit. That has been a critical decision and sets you up for life. Once paid off, as you know, you can top up super and build savings.

I get your point about shares.

Most of the problem is that we can see their value daily. If our properties were listed, we'd have a minor heart attack seeing our homes bounce up and down in value every day.

It is something I like about property. We don't really know the value of our homes month to month or even year to year. We just look back after a decade or so and, in most cases, say, 'wow, that was a good idea'.

Your super will hold substantial exposure to shares, but I doubt any of us look at the unit price of our super too often; mostly it is a once-a-year look when our annual statement turns up.

Our super also disguises times of poor share or property performance. You are having compulsory contributions going in, plus your $5200 a year top-ups, so almost every year, good or bad, our account value goes up.

With your ETFs you are doing nothing wrong. You've bought two well-diversified funds and added some smaller cap ETFs, giving you exposure to smaller companies.

This makes sense.

I'm sure you have seen many long-term sharemarket graphs. You have told me you are nervous about shares, but remember you will own a far greater dollar value in shares in super than you hold in ETFs.

I suggest you do with your ETFs exactly what you do with your unit and with your super.

Relax and let a key rule of money work for you. It is not market timing that matters, it is time in the market.

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