The AI Avalanche: Keep Your Powder Dry
The Bottom Line Up Front: AI is disrupting markets, industries, and jobs at a pace nobody predicted. While the world scrambles to react, the smartest financial move you can make right now isn’t buying AI stocks or panic-selling your portfolio. It’s building cash. Here’s why.
I want to tell you about a client I’ll never forget.
He was a financial advisor’s dream. Successful, motivated, and genuinely excited about investing. Over many years together, we built a diversified portfolio that any advisor would be proud of. Stocks, bonds, real estate, international holdings—the whole trail mapped out perfectly.
Then one day, during a bull market that seemed like it would never end, he called me.
“What’s your next best idea?” he asked.
I thought about it carefully. I looked at his portfolio. I looked at the market. And then I said something I don’t say very often:
“I know exactly what you need right now. And it’s not another investment. You need more cash.”
He went quiet for a moment.
“Cash?” he said. “Why cash?”
“Because when this bull market finally stumbles—and it will stumble—you’re going to want to keep your powder dry. You’re going to want the ability to scoop up quality assets at prices nobody believed were possible. And you can’t do that if everything you have is already deployed.”
He took my advice. And two months later, in September 2008, the market began to crumble. The real estate crisis exploded. The Great Recession had begun—a collapse that nearly brought our entire financial system to its knees.
My client didn’t predict it. He didn’t see it coming.
But he was ready. While others were scrambling to survive, he had cash. While others were forced to sell assets at devastating losses, he was quietly buying quality investments at prices that hadn’t been seen in decades.
Preparation didn’t require prediction. It just required building the base before the storm arrived.
I’m giving you the same advice today.
What’s Happening Right Now
Today, February 12th, 2026, the market had one of its worst days in months.
The Dow dropped 669 points. The Nasdaq fell nearly 2%. Software companies that were market darlings just weeks ago lost billions in value in a single session.
The culprit? Artificial intelligence.
Not because AI isn’t powerful. It is. But because markets are finally waking up to something the rest of us have been feeling for a while: AI isn’t just disrupting technology. It’s disrupting everything.
Jobs that existed for decades are disappearing. Industries built over generations are being rebuilt from scratch. Companies that looked untouchable six months ago are suddenly fighting for survival.
AppLovin—a company that just reported record profits—lost nearly 20% of its value today. Not because it did anything wrong. But because investors are asking a simple, terrifying question: what happens to your business when AI renders it obsolete?
That question is being asked across every industry right now. And nobody has a complete answer.
This is the AI Avalanche. It started as a rumble. It’s becoming a roar.
Why the Avalanche Matters to Your Financial Journey
You might be thinking: “I don’t own tech stocks. What does this have to do with building my emergency fund?”
Everything.
Here’s what history teaches us about periods of massive technological disruption:
They create winners and losers at a speed nobody expects.
The winners are the people who prepared. The ones who had financial stability when chaos hit. The ones who had cash reserves when others were scrambling. The ones who could make clear, rational decisions instead of panic-driven ones.
The losers are the people who were already stretched thin. One job disruption, one industry shift, one unexpected expense away from financial crisis.
Right now, AI is accelerating the pace of disruption faster than any technology in history. Jobs that seemed stable are being automated. Industries are consolidating. The economic ground beneath us is shifting.
This isn’t doom. It’s reality. And reality rewards preparation.
The Strategic Power of Cash Nobody Talks About
Here’s what Wall Street understands that most people don’t:
Cash isn’t just savings. Cash is a weapon.
When markets fall—and today is a reminder that they do fall—cash gives you options that nobody else has.
The wealthy don’t panic when markets drop. They go shopping.
When quality assets fall to prices that reflect fear rather than value, the people with cash reserves step in and buy. They acquire real estate when prices dip. They purchase stocks of solid companies at discounted prices. They invest in opportunities that only appear during periods of uncertainty.
The people without cash? They’re forced to sell at the worst possible time to cover expenses. They watch opportunities disappear because they have nothing to deploy. They make fear-based decisions instead of strategic ones.
My client understood this. That’s why “you need more cash” was the best advice I ever gave him.
It’s the best advice I can give you right now too.
Fortify Your Base Before You Climb Higher
Here’s the mountain climbing truth about where we are right now:
When conditions get unpredictable—when the weather changes and the trail becomes unstable—the smartest thing a hiker can do isn’t push harder toward the summit. It’s strengthen the basecamp.
Make sure your shelter is solid. Check your supplies. Ensure you have what you need to weather whatever comes next.
That’s exactly what building your cash reserve is doing right now.
I know some of you are reading this thinking about investing. About putting money into the market. About not “letting cash sit idle.”
I understand that instinct. But consider this:
If AI disruption continues to shake markets over the next 6-12 months, quality assets could get significantly cheaper. If you have cash reserves, you’ll be positioned to take advantage of those lower prices.
If you have no cash—if everything is already deployed and your emergency fund is empty—a disruption that hits your industry or your job puts you in survival mode, not opportunity mode.
Survival mode and opportunity mode are not the same place.
What This Means for Your February Mission
We’ve spent February building Safety Net #1: one month of cash reserves.
I want you to look at that mission differently now.
You’re not just building an emergency fund. You’re building strategic positioning.
Every $100 you add to your safety net is:
Protection against the job disruption that AI is accelerating across every industry
Stability that lets you make rational decisions when markets get volatile
Ammunition that positions you to take advantage of opportunities when they appear
Freedom from the panic that financial fragility creates
The people who will thrive through the AI avalanche aren’t necessarily the ones who understand AI best. They’re the ones who have the financial stability to adapt, pivot, and act when others can’t.
The Basecamp Principle
In hiking, you never abandon your basecamp until it’s solid.
You don’t push toward the summit with a leaky tent, insufficient supplies, and no safety rope. You prepare. You fortify. You make sure your foundation can support the climb ahead.
That’s what we’re doing right now in February.
The market is volatile. AI is reshaping the economic landscape faster than anyone expected. Industries are being disrupted. Jobs are changing.
This isn’t the moment to sprint toward the summit.
This is the moment to make sure your basecamp can handle whatever weather comes next.
Build your cash reserve. Strengthen your safety net. Fortify your financial base.
Because when the avalanche settles—and it will settle—the climbers who prepared will be the ones who reach the summit.
Your Action Step This Week
The market dropped today. AI anxiety is real. Economic uncertainty is real.
Here’s what you’re going to do about it:
Add to your safety net this week. Whatever amount you can. $50, $100, $200.
Not because you’re scared. Because you’re strategic.
You’re building the financial foundation that gives you options when others have none. You’re preparing your basecamp for whatever conditions lie ahead on this trail.
The AI avalanche is coming. Maybe it’s already here.
The question isn’t whether it will affect you. It will affect all of us in some way.
The question is whether you’ll be ready.
See you at the top.