The majority don’t have the discipline to save and invest early.
I have well over $2million in investments at 40 and I don’t think I’ve ever been a tremendous investor/saver. As the saying goes - the first million is the hardest. The rest come quite fast after the first.
If this was March 2000 you would likely have a drawdown to under $1 million in 18 months, and under $500,000 if heavily invested in tech stocks. To believe that can’t happen again in the current environment seems foolish to me.
What if this was Jan 2019? Would I be okay?
I guess you could just put your savings under the mattress and get a guaranteed negative return. 😀
"If you made really stupid investment decisions, things wouldn't have gone well for you." No kidding. What if you followed routine standard advice and invested in the S&P500 or total stock market and just DCAed for 30+ years? If you put away even $5000/year, you're sitting very well by age 60+.
I started investing about a month after my 24th birthday. Only got serious about things around 2017-2018 though.
As noted by me in past posts the S&P 500 was negative from 3/2000 thru 4/2013 and NASDAQ negative for an additional three years. The only stupid investment decision was believing nonsense was real. Your investment experience is the greatest bull market in history, in part subsidized by your government. Gold, silver, and the Dollar are questioning where it all lands.
And again you are only looking at the index and ignoring dividends. I remember reading that dividends over the last 100 years have contributed 40% to the overall performance of the S & P. I don't really believe that but you are forgetting to include dividends.
As noted by me in past posts the S&P 500 was negative from 3/2000 thru 4/2013 and NASDAQ negative for an additional three years. The only stupid investment decision was believing nonsense was real. Your investment experience is the greatest bull market in history, in part subsidized by your government. Gold, silver, and the Dollar are questioning where it all lands.
And again you are only looking at the index and ignoring dividends. I remember reading that dividends over the last 100 years have contributed 40% to the overall performance of the S & P. I don't really believe that but you are forgetting to include dividends.
OK, you got less the money market in dividends for13 years.
If this was March 2000 you would likely have a drawdown to under $1 million in 18 months, and under $500,000 if heavily invested in tech stocks. To believe that can’t happen again in the current environment seems foolish to me.
What if this was Jan 2019? Would I be okay?
I guess you could just put your savings under the mattress and get a guaranteed negative return. 😀
The total return of the S & P from 2000 to 2025 is about 612% or 8% per year.
And again you are only looking at the index and ignoring dividends. I remember reading that dividends over the last 100 years have contributed 40% to the overall performance of the S & P. I don't really believe that but you are forgetting to include dividends.
OK, you got less the money market in dividends for13 years.
How do you know that? How much in dividends during that time did the S & P provide?
If this was March 2000 you would likely have a drawdown to under $1 million in 18 months, and under $500,000 if heavily invested in tech stocks. To believe that can’t happen again in the current environment seems foolish to me.
What if this was Jan 2019? Would I be okay?
I guess you could just put your savings under the mattress and get a guaranteed negative return. 😀
2019 you ask? Greatest Bull Market in history. You are the guy that said you did nothing special. Perhaps you had a high income.
"If you made really stupid investment decisions, things wouldn't have gone well for you." No kidding. What if you followed routine standard advice and invested in the S&P500 or total stock market and just DCAed for 30+ years? If you put away even $5000/year, you're sitting very well by age 60+.
I started investing about a month after my 24th birthday. Only got serious about things around 2017-2018 though.
As noted by me in past posts the S&P 500 was negative from 3/2000 thru 4/2013 and NASDAQ negative for an additional three years. The only stupid investment decision was believing nonsense was real. Your investment experience is the greatest bull market in history, in part subsidized by your government. Gold, silver, and the Dollar are questioning where it all lands.
You're right. If someone was holding onto a huge chunk of cash, put it all in at the exact worst time possible in 30 years, then they went on to not invest another dime over the next 13 years, then yes, your scenario is relevant. I'm guessing there is literally not a single person alive who did this.
For basically everyone else, even if you bought in around the worst time possible, if you continued to DCA while the market was falling, down, then climbing again, you would be sitting very well right now.
It is honestly incredible to me how many people out there, even on a thread like this, do not understand the most basic of ideas in all of investing. This is like Kindergarten level stuff in the school of investing.
As noted by me in past posts the S&P 500 was negative from 3/2000 thru 4/2013 and NASDAQ negative for an additional three years. The only stupid investment decision was believing nonsense was real. Your investment experience is the greatest bull market in history, in part subsidized by your government. Gold, silver, and the Dollar are questioning where it all lands.
You're right. If someone was holding onto a huge chunk of cash, put it all in at the exact worst time possible in 30 years, then they went on to not invest another dime over the next 13 years, then yes, your scenario is relevant. I'm guessing there is literally not a single person alive who did this.
For basically everyone else, even if you bought in around the worst time possible, if you continued to DCA while the market was falling, down, then climbing again, you would be sitting very well right now.
It is honestly incredible to me how many people out there, even on a thread like this, do not understand the most basic of ideas in all of investing. This is like Kindergarten level stuff in the school of investing.
As noted by me in past posts the S&P 500 was negative from 3/2000 thru 4/2013 and NASDAQ negative for an additional three years. The only stupid investment decision was believing nonsense was real. Your investment experience is the greatest bull market in history, in part subsidized by your government. Gold, silver, and the Dollar are questioning where it all lands.
You're right. If someone was holding onto a huge chunk of cash, put it all in at the exact worst time possible in 30 years, then they went on to not invest another dime over the next 13 years, then yes, your scenario is relevant. I'm guessing there is literally not a single person alive who did this.
For basically everyone else, even if you bought in around the worst time possible, if you continued to DCA while the market was falling, down, then climbing again, you would be sitting very well right now.
It is honestly incredible to me how many people out there, even on a thread like this, do not understand the most basic of ideas in all of investing. This is like Kindergarten level stuff in the school of investing.
I think most posters here are exactly like you, along with all the financial media. Your beliefs are the standard, and not unique at all. A person with a sober view of the market would consider every penny you have invested today is all in at the worst time possible. Of course this is no consideration for you.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
You're right. If someone was holding onto a huge chunk of cash, put it all in at the exact worst time possible in 30 years, then they went on to not invest another dime over the next 13 years, then yes, your scenario is relevant. I'm guessing there is literally not a single person alive who did this.
For basically everyone else, even if you bought in around the worst time possible, if you continued to DCA while the market was falling, down, then climbing again, you would be sitting very well right now.
It is honestly incredible to me how many people out there, even on a thread like this, do not understand the most basic of ideas in all of investing. This is like Kindergarten level stuff in the school of investing.
You can cherry-pick dates to support a lot of different beliefs. This is not too surprising, and is even instructive. Why? Because markets fluctuate and involve the risk of loss.
That should be understood by anyone considering investing.
That said, the average annual return for the S&P 500 over long durations is approximately 10 - 11 % with dividend reinvestment.
2019 you ask? Greatest Bull Market in history. You are the guy that said you did nothing special. Perhaps you had a high income.
I just cherry-picked a year like you did. But, by all means, just stuff it under the mattress.
I haven’t done anything special. Save and invest.
I am just pointing out the facts. Your situation is unusual, for many reasons you have not outlined. Many Americans save and invest, do their best, and are lucky to have $100,000.
The average American's retirement savings vary significantly by age, with the median household savings around $87,000 overall, but this number jumps to about $200,000 for ages 65-74, while younger adults (under 35) have much less, around $18,000-$19,000. The average (mean) is often much higher than the median because of large balances held by high earners, so the median provides a better picture of typical savings for most people, showing substantial growth as people age and save more.
I just cherry-picked a year like you did. But, by all means, just stuff it under the mattress.
I haven’t done anything special. Save and invest.
I am just pointing out the facts. Your situation is unusual, for many reasons you have not outlined. Many Americans save and invest, do their best, and are lucky to have $100,000.
There is a name for this phenomenon today, the 'K Shaped" economy, and highlights a significant diversion between the well-off and the more mainstream demographic.
Check it out, it is enlightening and explains how some are doing quite well, others not.
I told this story before. I inherited an account from a fired financial advisor, a former top producer at Morgan Stanley. The account holder had $1.5 million account at the top of the market in 2000, by the time I became the advisor it was under $200,000. What was the account invested in? Like crypto and AI, just year 2000 version.
I am just pointing out the facts. Your situation is unusual, for many reasons you have not outlined. Many Americans save and invest, do their best, and are lucky to have $100,000.
There is a name for this phenomenon today, the 'K Shaped" economy, and highlights a significant diversion between the well-off and the more mainstream demographic.
Check it out, it is enlightening and explains how some are doing quite well, others not.
This cycle the top gets hurt the most. Why? Has to, that is where the wealth is concentrated.
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