Funny that this thread is still going.
I bowed out as a regular poster in this thread when it was clear the the OP's insane assertion was not going to happen and that I was right about that.
We have had someone screaming that the markets were going to plummet since the market bounced off the bottom in March 2009 all the while, the same basics to gaining wealth remained the same.
1) Get out of debt other than for a house and a LARGE student loan as soon as possible.
2) Invest 15% minimum of your income into diversified mutual funds within retirement vehicles (401k, IRA, 403b, etc.), and don't ever stop, no matter the direction of the market until you are within 5 years of retirement...at that point, you can reevaluate whether to stay in, get out, decrease investment, etc.
3) Once debt other than house and student loan is gone, and 15% is going to retirement accounts, pay off house and loan.
4) If you had $1 million dollars in the market (using the Dow as measure) in March 2009 and just left it sit there and didn't add any more to it since, you would have over $4 million today.
5) You get out of debt as soon as you can including the house WHILE also investing so that you can be assured to always have money in the market and always be able to continue to fund your retirement. This is true today. It was true in 2009 and all points between.
It is NOT rocket science. It is just discipline. It is not talking yourself into things like "why pay the house off when I could invest that money and make more?" because that situation almost never happens...people don't pay off debts because they want to spend more NOW...not because they want to invest more.
Just get in the market if you aren't. Up your investment if you are not giving at least 15%, Become completely debt free as soon as possible. Frees up outgo. Gives you more options later in life. Allows you to perhaps retire early or retire lavishly or both.