MATTHEW MARRIAN | Why agency is the antidote to anxiety that trips up investors

Uncertainty has a way of exposing every crack in how we think about money. It does not matter whether the concern is political instability, market volatility, rising rates or global noise. The moment the world feels shaky, people start second-guessing their decisions. They check their portfolios obsessively. They search for predictions. They panic, hesitate or overreact. Underneath all of that behaviour is something deeper than numbers: anxiety.

Money anxiety is not irrational. It comes from a very human place. Money represents safety, control and future possibility. When uncertainty rises, those foundations feel threatened, even if the financial risk is far smaller than the emotional reaction suggests.

The challenge is not the uncertainty itself, it is how we react to it. Humans are wired to protect themselves from loss. Psychologists call it loss aversion. Losing feels twice as painful as winning feels rewarding. During turbulent periods this instinct becomes even louder. When markets dip, the mind does not see a temporary fluctuation. It sees danger. It sees threat. It imagines worst-case scenarios.

Investors don’t lose money because of markets. They lose money because of their reactions to markets. Buying when confidence is high. Selling when fear peaks. Timing decisions based on emotion instead of strategy.

Add the constant noise of headlines, WhatsApp groups and social media, and that instinct becomes amplified. Uncertainty turns into fear. Fear turns into indecision. And indecision leads to poor financial outcomes.

The irony is that uncertainty has always been part of investing. There has never been a point in history where the future was predictable. Yet our behaviour often assumes uncertainty is a new event rather than the world’s default state.

Investors don’t lose money because of markets. They lose money because of their reactions to markets. Buying when confidence is high. Selling when fear peaks. Timing decisions based on emotion instead of strategy.

This is known as the behaviour gap, the difference between what the market returns and what the average investor receives. When anxiety takes over, that gap widens. People abandon long-term thinking. They chase whatever feels safest in the moment. They lock in losses. They stop contributing. They hedge fear instead of building wealth.

The real cost of anxiety is not the short-term drop. It is the long-term damage caused by emotional decision-making. The solution is not to eliminate uncertainty. That is impossible. It is to strengthen the psychological tools we use to navigate it. Agency is the antidote to anxiety. Agency is the sense of control that comes from understanding your plan, process and your behaviour.

The following shifts change everything:

• From prediction to preparation. Trying to guess what markets will do is a guaranteed path to stress. Focusing on what you can control, such as asset allocation, risk tolerance, liquidity and time horizon, brings clarity and confidence.
• From reaction to reflection. Not every headline requires action. Not every dip is a crisis. When anxiety spikes, pause. Ask whether the fear is based on real risk or emotional noise.
• From short-term thinking to long-term vision. Your wealth is built over decades, not weeks. The question is not whether the market will fall, but whether your plan can survive periods when it does. A strong strategy is built to withstand, not avoid, volatility.
• From going alone to working with a guide. Even the most disciplined investors are influenced by emotion. A professional adviser brings objectivity and protects you from the decisions you will regret later.

When investors understand their strategy, know their risk tolerance, have liquidity for emergencies, and trust the process, uncertainty becomes far less frightening. The world can move. Markets can fluctuate. Portfolios can temporarily pull back. Yet the investor stays anchored.

That is agency. Not the absence of fear, but the presence of clarity. Uncertain times do not destroy wealth. Poor behaviour does. If you want stability, your first step is not a new investment product. It is a new relationship with uncertainty, one built on preparation, perspective and discipline.

When you shift from anxiety to agency you stop reacting to markets and start controlling your future. That is where real financial strength begins.

• Marrian is director at independent wealth management firm InvestSense.