August is often referred to as the Dog Days of summer. The phrase conjures up images of heat, stillness, and weariness—a time when everything seems to slow down. While we use the term casually today, its origins run deep. The “Dog Days” were named for Sirius, the Dog Star, which rises and shines brightest in the late summer sky. Ancient Romans believed that its appearance brought on the sweltering, oppressive heat that marked a kind of seasonal malaise. Interestingly, there’s something about the Dog Days that also feels familiar in the world of investing.
Just as August heat can make the days feel endless and uncomfortable, markets too go through stretches that test our patience and perspective. Volatility spikes and headlines sizzle. Other times, everything seems to go quiet. Maybe your portfolio isn’t doing much. Maybe news from Wall Street feels oddly disjointed from the real economy. Whatever the conditions, it’s easy to start wondering: Should I be doing something?
Here’s the truth: discomfort isn’t always danger, and inaction is not the same as indifference. Sometimes, the most productive thing an investor can do is not react to the heat of the moment. Let’s consider a few lessons the Dog Days can teach us:
Staying Still Doesn’t Mean You’re Lost
We live in a world that glorifies action. If something isn’t working, we’re told to change it. But in investing, that instinct can often do more harm than good. The temptation to time the market, shift to “hot” sectors, or chase the next opportunity often leads investors away from long-term gains and toward short-term regret.
Historically, the best returns aren’t earned through constant adjustments, but through clarity, conviction, and consistency. Your portfolio should be built for more than just a season. Well-crafted plans are designed to weather storms, ride through stagnation, and capture opportunities over time. Staying invested, even when it feels boring or uneasy, is a key feature of the plan, not a flaw in it.
When the Noise Gets Louder, Get Quieter
Late summer tends to bring a strange brew of uncertainty: Fed announcements, inflation updates, earnings season, and political posturing. Markets often react to these inputs, but that doesn’t mean you have to.
One of our core responsibilities as advisors is to act as a kind of filter to help distinguish what’s relevant from what’s just noise. Not all data is useful; not all motion requires a response. In the Dog Days of investing, it’s often better to focus on your goals, your risk tolerance, and your time horizon; the constants in a world full of variables.
Remember What the Heat Reveals
Heat has a way of revealing things. In ancient times, it brought harvests to maturity. In our lives, it can expose tension or fatigue. In markets, it can highlight weaknesses, be it over-concentration, emotional bias, or forgotten risk.
Use this time to check in with yourself. Has your risk tolerance shifted? Are you still comfortable with your long-term goals? Are there parts of your financial life that need tending? Sometimes, the Dog Days offer the perfect backdrop for reflection and recalibration, not reaction.
The Cool Will Return
Markets, like seasons, move in cycles. What feels hot and uncomfortable now will pass. Just as cooler weather follows August, more stable conditions often follow volatility. This is not optimism; it’s a clear–eyed observation of history.
Over decades, the market has rewarded those who stayed invested, kept perspective, and avoided letting temporary discomfort cloud long-term discipline. We don’t need to know exactly when the heat will break. We just need to know that it will.
The Dog Days test us. Not with crisis, but with duration. With waiting. With boredom. With uncertainty. But they also offer us an opportunity to practice something that many investors forget to value: patience.
So here’s my message to you this August: Don’t mistake discomfort for danger. Don’t abandon your plan just because the heat is getting to you. Let’s stay cool, stay focused, and keep moving forward together.If you have a financial plan and would like an update or a second opinion, book some time with me using the link below. If you don’t have a plan and would like to start with a detailed analysis of where you are now, we offer a free report we call the Taxes First, Then Math analysis. This report will calculate your actual, total costs for financial services, the tax efficiency of your portfolio, highlight potential areas of concentration, and provide you with a maximum downside exposure in the event of a bear market.
