Young Research & Publishing Inc.

Investment Research Since 1978

Disclosure

  • About Us
    • Contributors
    • Archives
    • Dick Young’s Safe America
    • The Final Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
    • Dick Young’s Research Key: Anecdotal Evidence Gathering
    • Crisis at Vanguard
  • Investment Analysis
    • Bonds
    • Currencies and Gold
    • Dividend Investing
    • ETFs & Funds
    • Investment Strategy
    • Retirement Investing
    • Stocks
    • The Efficient Frontier
  • Investment Counsel
  • Dynamic Maximizers®
  • Retirement Compounders®
  • Free Email Signup

20-Year Review: Stock Market Cuts Investors’ Wealth Roughly in Half—Twice

December 6, 2019 By E.J. Smith

By gerasimov_foto_174 @ Shutterstock.com

“Monday’s madness is a reminder that investing in stocks doesn’t automatically make people rich. Twice in the past 20 years—between 2000 and 2002, and again between 2007 and 2009—the stock market has cut investors’ wealth roughly in half,” writes Jason Zweig at the WSJ.

When you think about the mathematics of investment losses (see chart below), you quickly realize how difficult it becomes to get back to square one, especially for retirees.

And when you think about it in terms of real dollars—seeing $1 million decline to $500,000—imagine how many hours you have to work to make that kind of money.

If you can’t afford to lose that kind of money then organize your finances accordingly because this mini pull back was nothing. Wait until the madness really sets in like it has twice over the past 20 years.

Zweig writes:

The novelist Joseph Conrad understood human nature. In his memoir, “A Personal Record,” published in 1912, he recounted a chilling story from his family’s history in Poland.

After a troop of Cossacks invaded the grounds of the home of Conrad’s wealthy grand uncle, dozens of peasants surged in and around the house. A loyal servant and a local priest placated the crowd, and the tension began to dissipate.

Then, as much of the crowd started to head home, one of the peasants stepped to the window. He bumped into a dainty table; as it hit the floor, coins clinked inside it. He bashed it open, and gold coins spilled out.

Instantly, the crowd shifted from retreat to rampage. They swarmed inside and “smashed everything in the house, ripping with knives, splitting with hatchets, so that, as the servant said, there were no two pieces of wood holding together left in the whole house.”

That’s what markets are like. Tens of millions of people don’t always act rationally in response to new information; often, they react to nothing but how they think other people are acting or will act. Logic can melt into emotion in the blink of an eye.

Monday’s madness is a reminder that investing in stocks doesn’t automatically make people rich. Twice in the past 20 years—between 2000 and 2002, and again between 2007 and 2009—the stock market has cut investors’ wealth roughly in half.

No one can say when that will happen again, but everyone should know that it can—and very well might. If a 6% daily drop makes you squirm, then you probably have too much invested in stocks for your own psychological good.

Read more here.

 

 

Originally posted on Yoursurvivalguy.com.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

You Might Also Like:

  • A Record Breaking Stock-Market
  • How Expensive is the Stock Market?
  • The Biggest Stock Market Wipe-out in History
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
E.J. Smith
E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris.

Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com
Latest posts by E.J. Smith (see all)
  • RURAL RENAISSANCE: America Finds the Country Again - June 29, 2022
  • Why Work When Taxes Take It All? - June 28, 2022
  • Your Survival Guy in Paris: Awakened from His Slumber, “Dad, I’m Going to London” - June 27, 2022

Search Young Research

Most Popular

  • Here’s Why You Need a 15-Year Retirement Investment Plan
  • Why Work When Taxes Take It All?
  • The Power of a Compound Interest Table
  • Is the Great Job Boom Over?
  • Are Google, Amazon, and Microsoft About to Crash This Specialized Real Estate Market?
  • What Happens to Your Passwords When You Die?
  • Regulators' Bungled Attempts to Cut Emissions Drove Oil Prices Higher
  • Your Survival Guy: Clearing the Decks, Buying a Boat, Seeing the World and More
  • RURAL RENAISSANCE: America Finds the Country Again
  • Vanguard Wellesley (VWINX) vs. Wellington (VWELX): Which Fund is Best?

Don’t Miss

Default Risk Among the Many Concerns with Annuities

Risk and Reward: An Efficient Frontier

How to be a Billionaire: Proven Strategies from the Titans of Wealth

Could this Be the Vanguard GNMA Winning Edge?

Cryptocosm and Life After Google

Warning: Avoid Mutual Fund Year End Distributions

Is Gold a Good Long-term Investment?

How to Invest in Gold

Vanguard Wellington (VWELX): The Original Balanced Fund

What is the Best Gold ETF for Investing and Trading?

Procter & Gamble (PG) Stock: The Only True Dividend King

The Dividend King of the North

You’ll Love This if You’re Dreaming of an Active Retirement Life

RSS The Latest at Richardcyoung.com

  • An Assault on America’s Central Core
  • Hillary Clinton Claws at Relevance by Publicly Insulting Clarence Thomas
  • RURAL RENAISSANCE: America Finds the Country Again
  • The Best Investment Strategy is Simple, Like Analog Music
  • RED WAVE COMING? Americans Fear the Future of Biden’s Economy
  • Biden’s Approval Lower Now than Trump’s Was after January 6, 2021
  • With a Nod from Turkey, Finland and Sweden Speed Toward NATO Membership
  • 10th AMENDMENT: Dobbs Decision a Win for States’ Rights
  • What Just Happened? Fixing Its Historic Mistake
  • Why Work When Taxes Take It All?

About Us

  • About Young Research
  • Archives
  • Contributors

Our Partners

  • Richard C. Young & Co.
  • Richardcyoung.com

Copyright © 2022 | Terms & Conditions

 

Loading Comments...
 

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.