A picture can speak volumes.
If you have the time I would highly recommend that you take a look at the video podcast, which is titled: “Charts and Graphs” that compliments this blog post.
Long term, the stock market has always gone up or so the saying goes. The evidence is spot on as long as you take the long-term view over the past one hundred and seventeen years. Beginning back in 1900, the market has always risen, at least in the past.
Yet, if you take a look only since the mid-nineties, you will basically see that the market has made a bunch of money, lost a bunch of money, made a bunch of money, lost a bunch of money and then made a whole bunch of money.
According to a recent study by the Global Atlantic Financial Group, three of four investors fear a stock market correction. Virtually all investors, 97% to be exact, say the market at its current levels has risks. Investors are especially worried about the impact that a correction would have on their retirement savings. Remembering back to the 2008 financial crisis, one in ten said they lost more than half of the value of their savings and investment portfolios. About a quarter say they lost between 25 and 50 percent and a third, said they experienced a reduction of 10 to 25 percent.
Even Vanguard may be sounding an alarm. They recently released research on the prospects for the stock market this year citing a higher chance of volatility. In fact, Vanguard said its outlook for global stocks and bonds is the “most subdued it has been in a decade.
What am I saying? Be realistic; be engaged and be properly diversified with your portfolio.
