Gen Y: plenty of time to invest, but little appetite for risk
Along with about 50 million others, I’m a product of Generation X. I had a Dorothy Hamill haircut, spent my weekends at the roller-skating rink, and grew up watching Madonna on MTV (back when she was more controversial and they actually aired videos). And while there are plenty of characteristics—not all of them positive—broadly attributed to the “slackers” and “latchkey kids” of my generation, we’re generally turning out OK.
In fact, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how lucky I am compared to my younger Gen Y counterparts. The roughly 77 million young adults, or “Millennials,” now between the ages of 18 and 30 sometimes get knocked for being coddled by their well-meaning “helicopter” parents. And maybe that’s true. But, I feel bad for them anyway. They’re well educated and technology savvy, but they can’t find jobs. They’re generally more diverse, well traveled, community minded, and environmentally conscious than members of my generation … and they still can’t find jobs. The overall unemployment rate just dropped to 8.5%, but the rate for Gen Y job-seekers between the ages of 18 and 24 still sits well above the national average at 15.8%. Who’s being coddled now? Those lucky enough to land a job and make small contributions to their first 401(k) have been rewarded with extraordinary market volatility. But, that’s the thing. They don’t know it’s extraordinary. And it’s souring them on equity investing.
A recent Forbes article reports that 40% of Gen Y investors agree with the statement “I will never feel comfortable investing in the stock market.” Wow, never?! The article states that the average Gen Y investor holds 30% of their assets in cash, an allocation more consistent with an aging boomer than a twenty-something. While their stance on the equity markets may eventually soften, it’s a strong indication of the understandable—but really unfortunate—risk aversion that now plagues many Gen Y investors.
Perhaps by sheer luck of my birth year, my experience was different. I graduated from college in 1994 and was offered a job directly related to my field of study. With paycheck in hand, I dutifully contributed to my first 401(k) and watched my account balance grow steadily through the remainder of the nineties. In hindsight, I probably grew to expect the healthy returns that I was enjoying. (Not to worry, my market naïveté dissipated quickly when the tech bubble burst in early 2000). Like many investors, my earliest experiences—both good and bad—helped shape my views on risk tolerance.
Unlike today’s Gen Y investor, I directly benefited from several consecutive years of portfolio growth fueled by equity returns. That experience bolstered my long-term confidence in the markets when things got shaky in the early 2000s. In fact, those early market observations—coupled with another 15-plus years of investing experience—still sustain my faith in today’s volatile market environment.
In one of my prior posts, I urged investors spooked by market volatility to consider shortfall risk before investing too heavily in cash. I didn’t have Generation Y in mind when writing that post, but young investors who shy away from equities should heed the same risk. Generation Y’s collective experience with the economy and the stock market has been brief but intensely unpleasant. It’s no mystery why they’re avoiding equities; I just hope we can convince them otherwise in relatively short order. Because one clear benefit of youth—and the 30–40-plus-year investing time horizon that comes along with it—is the ability to weather near-term volatility in exchange for potential long-term asset growth.
Note: All investing is subject to risk. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
It’s no wonder that young people don’t want to invest in the stock market. The market has become rigged over the last few years. I’m in my sixties, and after a lifetime of participation, I don’t want to invest in it anymore either.
When you have large institutional investors controlling market swings, the stock market becomes one big casino. And one thing I’ve always wanted to know: why are big traders allowed to engage in after hours transactions and the rest of us aren’t?
Not interested anymore.
Well said.
I guess unless little people invest, these big shot investors can’t have their day! Thats how much faith investors have in the market and its impartiality
Not developing the discipline while you are young of regularly investing in proven companies, especially dividend paying companies, is the surest way of depriving yourself of wealth and a comfortable retirement. Study after study has shown that over the long term, stocks are the surest way of accumulating wealth, and dividend paying stocks are safer and perform better than non-paying ones. Read one of Jeremy Siegel’s books. There are many companies that have been paying dividends every quarter for decades, in some cases a hundred or more years, and among them are companies that, every year for more than 25 years, have increased the amount of the dividend. Just google “dividend aristocrats”.
The biggest advantage of starting investing while you are young is the effect of “compounding”. A company whose share price increases just 6% a year will double in price in 12 years. At 8% per year, it will double in 9 years. At 10%, 7.2 years. This is known as the rule of 72. Dividing the rate of annual return into 72 determines how long it will take for the price to double.
The same applies to dividends. If you start investing in such stock when you are young, the amount of the dividend will double in 9 years. In 18 years, it will have quadrupled. By the time you retire, the dividend you receive every year will be more than you paid for the stock, and the price of the stock will be lot higher too. If you reinvest the dividends rather than taking them in cash, you will be…
look the problem for gen y is simple: how do I get the money to buy stock when I am barely making payments on the interest rates on my student debt?
This is serious. THey’re already taking the jobs you accused them of thinking they were too good for,and now they’re being accused of not being good investors.. T
If Gen Y kids have any money at all to invest, however little, they should be jumping for joy at the current equity market. Stocks are cheaper than they have been for quite a while.
That’s what they should want, so they can BUY LOW, and SELL HIGHER in 30 years! There will ups and downs; so what? Unless the world is coming to an end, stocks (shares of going enterprises) are where the gains will be made. And if the world does come to an end, what the heck good will cash or bonds be?
Who to believe, you or the empirical evidence of the returns over the last 10+ years…?
It is completely rational for this generation to be risk averse.
I pulled all my money out of stocks right before the market tanked last year, and enjoyed the same return in the money markets with no volatility.
Between my awesome defined benefit retirement and my safe 401k dividend rate credited investment option at my company, I have no need to ever invest in stocks again (and I’m 34)…my soul is prepared, how’s yours?
I’m Gen Y, 33 years old, in my second year of the first job that offered me a retirement account. I’ve been paying careful attention to international political economy since 2008, and am definitely cautious.
What I don’t understand is why many articles like this one (I’ve read maybe 5 focused on Gen Y now) act as if the only two options are investing in equities long-term, and holding lots of cash now. I spent last year with roughly 80% in bonds and returned 10%. I sidestepped most of the Aug-Nov. equities rollercoaster, and now I’m back at 70% equities. But I’m still nervous, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Europe takes a big crash. In that case, I’ll try to sidestep equities again, if they continue their correlation on both sides of the Atlantic and across equity classes.
Yes, I’m in it for the long haul. But I see no reason why I should take several upper-cuts to the chin when I could have my guard up.
I find that this kind of article is often sponsored by an investment institution that has something to gain by my being invested in stocks.
Just curious….exactly what are your “defined benefit retirement and my safe 401k dividend rate credited investment option” investments in?
Why should you be concerned with “empirical evidence of returns over the last 10+ years”? For one, you should be concerned with a much longer term for your retirement funds. And two, past returns mean very little for the future. Invest in a diversified portfolio (stocks, bonds, REITS, commodities, others) and you’ll give yourself the best chance at growing your retirement savings over the next 25+ years.
My wife and I are 27 right now, finishing up our PhDs this June and next, have paid off any debt, and retirement is not what we’re saving money for. We’re saving money to be able to afford a 20% down payment on a house, which we hope to purchase in the next 5-10 years. If our employer offered 401(k) plan matching, we’d be saving for retirement, but since they don’t for grad students employed at 49.9% time, all of our assets are available for a down payment when we figure out where we’ll be living.
Also, another reason we’re not heavily invested in equity: we’re not willing to trash the planet just to make 10% annual return and I’ve yet to find a fund that meets our criteria. I’m planning on being around in 50 years and want to enjoy nature then as much as I do now.
Millennial here – born in 1983. I’m right with the poster about bonds – why do these articles seem to consistently ignore that a real return can be made investing in a wide range of debt instruments? And setting aside the risk/reward question for a second, I know I personally feel better about supporting companies through debt. Debt is used to fund *real* things like employees and equipment for long-term growth whereas stocks seem to only fund the desire for a broker to get in, make a quick buck, and get out.
As U.S Airline Pilot’s learned since the 1980′s, when airlines fail or declare bankruptcy they can and do declare a “distress termination” of defined benefit plans. This happened recently at Delta and United Airlines and is being contemplated by the management at American Airlines. The control and contributions to the plan (of lack thereof) is entirely in the hands of management. Also if you were to leave the company before normal retirement you can’t take a defined benefit plan, or it’s accrued assets, with you like you can a 401k-in the form of a roll-over IRA. U.S Airline Pilot’s learned the hard way not to depend on a defined benefit plan for retirement. You still must invest heavily in a 401k and plan for the possibility that your defined benefit plan just might not be there when it’s time for you to retire.
To the born-in-1983 commenter who said “Debt is used to fund *real* things”: I’m sorry to disabuse you of this noble notion, but as you’re the same age as my 2nd-born child (a daughter, now studying for her PhD in Telecom Engineering — my eldest, a son, is an economist and a freelance deal-broker/wheeler-dealer so he needs no warnings from me;-) I feel a vaguely paternal responsibility…
For the latest big splash see http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/021685a6-5272-11e1-ae2c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1m7xdpACK (free registration may be required), the Financial Times on “HCA raises debt after announcing dividend”. $870M of dividend to their (private-equity) shareholders (inc. Bain Capital, so Mr Romney should get some of that), and “in the same breath” issuance of $1.35B in (junk-rated) bonds. That’s standard operating procedure for much Private Equity owned firms: get into debt to the gills and above, to pay huge dividends to the PE shareholders. “Dividend Recapitalization” is the euphemism for it (though HCA stoutly denies its own DR is one;-); 78 cases just in 2011 (not counting HCA, that was 2012;-). More generally, sellind bonds (debt) to pay dividends or buy back shares is even more common (look e.g at recent bond offers by Microsoft, IBM, … they have plenty of cash, but they’d rather keep that, probably a lot of it offshore, and use debt to keep trying to reward shareholders via dividends and stock buybacks). Why ever? Hint: their interest payments are…
For someone just starting out, particularly in a shaky job market, 30% cash is not unreasonable. They need an emergency cushion. Also, there’s nothing wrong with getting into investing slowly and carefully. Eventually, the current generation will become comfortable with an appropriate level of risk.
I say to Gen Y’ers, “Reduce your debt first, then think about long term investing”. Sorry Vanguard, but cultivating new members may have to be put off a few years in the name of serving the common good. If you have thousands of dollars owed in school loans, take five years to slay that dragon first.
Disagree strongly, look at the math of 5 years of lost gains on long-term investing vs. paying off low-interest school loans. At a minimum, Gen Y’ers should get full employer match in their 401K, of course pay their minimum student loan payments on time, and THEN decide what to do with extra cash (emergency fund, more retirement investing, more student loan payments, whatever).
Five years is pretty optimistic. I’ll be paying my loans off for ten if I’m lucky and by then I’ll be 35 years old with a savings account making 5% interest. It’s probably smarter for me to try to invest WHILE I’m paying off my loans, than to wait/waste what could be a great opportunity to get into the game.
amen
I have $100,000+ in student debt. Private Loan interest rates of 8.45% and Federal Loans of 7.5%; Unless the market is doing quite well over a short period, its hard not to pay extra vs. investing.
I disagree! My $20k in student loans is at 3.1%. Why would I “slay those dragons” when I could be contributing the full matchable amount to my 401k and building up cash savings as well–savings that will later buy me a lower interest rate on a home loan?
Up until a year or two ago all my money went to a savings account and CDs. Now CDs are getting basically no interest, so I don’t bother with those anymore. A couple of years ago I bought a house, which I could afford since we had over 50k in liquid assets. Now any extra money I have (which isn’t much, since my husband has been unemployed for 2 and a half years- luckily I’m one of those highly educated ones and there is still somewhat of a market for people with PhDs) goes towards rebuilding my savings account and paying off my mortgage faster. I suppose when I have around 30k in liquid assets I will start looking around to invest any additional money I have- but since I have only around 10k right now and am living paycheck to paycheck, that will be awhile. I also have a pension system through my job so I suppose I’m investing in that- they get 7% of my paycheck.
To my generation, investing in the stock market is just code for sending your money to the pockets of some guy sitting on wall street who moves numbers around and magically pulls out billions of dollars while everyone else gets screwed. Why should that guy have my money?
Signed, an older member of generation Y. (by the way- we prefer the name “millennials” instead of this dumb “comes after gen x” name
“To my generation, investing in the stock market is just code for sending your money to the pockets of some guy sitting on wall street who moves numbers around and magically pulls out billions of dollars while everyone else gets screwed. Why should that guy have my money?”
Your PhD isn’t finance, it would appear.
As a (relatively) debt free Gen-Y’er myself, market volatility is a blessing. Volatility leads to lower average prices per share due to dollar cost averaging (Harmonic Mean principle). Should anyone really care about the day-to-day or even month-to-month market fluctuations if you have a long enough time horizon of 35-40 years? If the markets crash as a whole, we will have a lot worse things to worry about then depressed 401k’s … like, getting food to eat for today. And those “smart” enough to sit on the sidelines in cash will see the savings eaten away by inflation. I set aside my 4-5% in a Roth 401k and am putting away roughly 20% of my after-tax income into a taxable brokerage account. It’s the only path I see to financial independence, short of the lottery or starting my own successful business.
The statistic of Gen Y holding 30% of assets in cash tells more about the length of time they’ve been investing than their actual risk tolerance with regard to stocks. As someone at the older end of Gen Y I’ve theoretically had the most time to be investing, let’s assume 7 years since college graduation. I did take advantage of my 1st jobs 401k and put the entire balance into stock mutual funds, but then the following happened. Reduced contributions for 1 year to save for grad school, spent 2.5 years in grad school and out of the full time workforce, saved a 6 month emergency fund, chose to pay down 6.5% APR student loan, and made keeping emergency fund full a priority.
That’s 3.5 out of 7 years spent saving to “invest in my future” and another 3.5 years spent insuring against job loss (the emergency fund). I don’t think it’s too crazy for this to result in cash savings comprising a substantial portion of assets.
Even as a 55 year old I can see why many younger people are going the cash route. I believe it has more to do with current priorities than an absolute rejection of equities. As a 25 year old in 1981 I contributed 100% of my funds to time deposits earning over 10%. This enabled me to build a nice base and then expand into equities.
Now it is tougher with zero interest rates but you still need that cash base to fall back on. Eventually the economy will pick up and equities will return to favor.
I also see why this generation would avoid stocks. The entire market seems rigged more and more and moves too much on institutional investing. I truely believe this time is definitely different. If I was 30 years old and employed there is no way I would have more than 50% in stocks. I would rather put more $ in safer investments, save more and work longer than risk my hard earned money on a country that has no meaning of responsibility regarding money. I am in my 50′s and have only 35% in stocks.
As a Gen X ex-institutional trader, I find the notion that there’s more institutional money as a percentage of total trading volume today than historically to be nonsense. Just look at the growth in mutual fund and ETF assets (& Vanguard) over the last decade or two. That growth isn’t driven by institutions, it’s driven by new retail investors like you and me. Institutional investors don’t use mutual funds in general. Instead, they hold assets in separately managed accounts.
Markets are no more “rigged” today than historically either; over both periods little if any evidence has been found despite thousands of investigations. There were certainly those who capitalized on loopholes and inside information, but that’s no reason for a wholesale indictment of equity markets. Their volume was a drop in an ocean of liquidity.
Rather, what has changed to the detriment of equity market participation is the advent of 24 hour financial news coverage. Numerous channels compete for ratings, and nothing sells like the next crisis or scandal. Each serves to undermine the confidence of the masses; no surprise.
Just as video killed the radio star, financial news networks killed the equity investor. However, I believe rumors of this death have been greatly exaggerated.
Sure
Well said.
,Generation Yer
What do you think about municipal bonds? I’m nearly 50 and began buying them about 5 years ago. They cost $5,000 a piece with a return of about 5% that is federal tax-exempt; it seems like a great deal for non-retirement funds. They can be easily sold, usually without capital gains, if the principle is needed.
I’m 42 years old with 65% in cash. I’m interested in paying off my mortgage (20 years left) since the interest on my mortgage is less than my standard deduction. If I pay off the mortgage now (not refinance) I will save the 5.25% and owe no taxes on that. If I had a guaranteed return of 5.25% after taxes for each of the next 20 years, I’d be excited about that! Am I crazy for thinking this?
A little bit… Pay off your mortgage if you want. No debt is better than debt – especially because it gives you more freedom of choice. But not paying 5.25% is not quite the same as EARNING 5.25%. Whatever you invest in with your extra money from no longer paying your mortgage will likely generate taxable investment income. In the meantime, double check your math on that 1040. I find it hard to imagine that the sum of your mortgage interest, property taxes, state and local taxes…etc. is less than the standard deduction. If it is, you are quite fortunate.
No, I don’t think your crazy for thinking this. I would do this as long as my retirement accounts (IRA, 401k) had decent balances. But you also want to consider that the stock market generally has an annualized return of 6% which is slightly higher than the 5.25% you would be earning if you paid off your mortgage.
I’m a Gen-X/Y “cusp” born in 1980. Joined the military. Came home. Didn’t have a 401k until 2006. And I got everything super cheap!
I am 56 and a long term Vanguard investor. The notion that stocks outperform bonds is true – except when it isn’t. But remember one thing the stock market took off just when Business Week published the article The Death of Equities in 1982.
Sad and anazing that the author pushes stocks, but never mentions TIPS, which I have found to be the ideal retirement investment. TIPS are also recommeded by the Boston Center for Retirement, the leading non-partisan think tank for retirement investing. You won’t get rich on TIPS, but you are guaranteed a decent return upon investment above inflation. As recently as the middle of last year, investors could have locked a guranteed return of 2% over CPI for 30 years in TIPS, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the US government. Right now, because the FED is attacking anyone who wants to save instead of speculate, the yield is just .75%. However, that still looks better than stocks, which will wipe you out when you need them most.
I’m over age 70 and have been in the market, and a close observer, for many years. For most of that time volatility has been a result of substantive changes in the economy over a period of time. Now the market rises several hundred points one day and drops several hundred the next. The explanation is almost always some vague, general statement such as “concern about Europe” one day and “things are looking better in Europe” the next day. My gut feel is that short sellers are running the market up and down on a daily basis without any consideration of economic fundamentals, long or short term.
I’m 24 and often worried about Investing. Often times, it is very difficult to invest money when I have a low paying job, despite my education and credentials. But, i’m holding to the notion of market trends and that the market goes through a period of turbulence every few decades, and this is just the luck of the market. Invested in a target date fund, I’ve seen my account dip as low as -8%, and only reach a high of +6% over the past 2 years. But as someone said, we’re in it for the long haul, and one has to remember that real returns are for the long term. Simply put, Buy Low, Sell High four decades out from now. Rather than seeing this era of turbulence as something to fear, I remind myself to make sure that I remember 10 years before I plan to cash out, to begin to move money out of risky investments into safe investments well before retirement. It might come at the cost of not having the largest portfolio, but it’s worth risking not gaining all the money possibly rather than losing it all as many that have planned to retire in 2007-2015 are facing today.
So many forget that their retirement is their own responsibility. I
f they would invest in the market or manage their 401K, they need to educate themselves about the market and the equities involved therein. Learning how to research stocks and bonds when you are young will lead to more prudent choices in the long haul. You cannot take your eye “off the ball” because some fund or benign financial manager is ‘looking out’ for your money. No one cares more about your hard earned money than you do. Best do your homework and stop the blame game.
Millennial (’85) here. I’m not afraid of the market volatility. There have been ups and downs, booms and busts. In a way it’s normal. A 40-year horizon should mean decent returns regardless of what happens in the near term.
With that view, I’m currently 60 / 10 / 30, stocks / bonds / cash. Anything less in cash is reckless (at my account balance). Long-term growth is a concern, but without a real safety net from the government, I need to do the best I can to create my own.
And whenever I think about the long-term, I am jealous of the Gen-X and earlier with their pensions. Salaries didn’t rise to replace pensions and companies hardly match 401k contributions.
Whoa! Depending upon the industry you were in, pensions were eliminated for many In Gen X
I agree. I’m a Gen Y here (26 years old). It was a great time to buy and probably still is. If other Gen Y’s want to stay out of the market for now, that just means the ones in the game right now can buy cheaper than if they were in it. If they want to time the market, that just means more volatility and more buying opportunities for us buy-and hold types. Don’t look at just the past 10 years, after all we will be investing for longer than 10 years.
There are two stock markets we’re talking about here: one is for flash traders and hedge fund managers who skim the cream, and the other one is for everyone else (and the ‘mutual fund crowd’).
The marked is definitely rigged, and the miscreants get away with a SEC slap on the wrist.
If a GenYer has disposable income now would be the time to buy that condo. Pay off the debt. And get a job. And have a brief thought for the Japanese who have been saving at negative return rates.
On the younger side of Gen Y (21 years old) i think this article does a pretty good job of summing up my age group. I don’t have any friends or coworkers who would even dare to get on a brokerage website (but they’ll b.s. on facebook all day…at work!). I don’t know anybody my age actively investing, and the majority don’t even save
We’re phenomenal consumers and that’s about it. I currently have over 90% of my portfolio in stock funds and am actually considering raising that to about 95%. With over 45 years until retirement i know that if companies aren’t selling things like food, clothing, cars, and hygiene products that money will be worthless, but i have faith in humanity and a strong belief that the world isn’t coming to an end. I try to educate myself the best i can on the markets but i know i’ll never be truly informed and that’s why I diversify my portfolio with an stock index fund and don’t try to “beat the market”. In three years I’ve put over $15,000 away between my employer sponsored IRA and my own ROTH. I’m constantly trying to convince my friends of the compound interest factor but they don’t listen. It’s more important to drive a BMW now than to retire 15 years early. It’s just the mindset, it’s not because of market volatility, it’s about delayed gratification. We, as a group, will learn, but it’s going to take a few more years to go from “this is what i have” to “this is who i am”. It’s a maturity thing. That’s all.
Interesting article, but I think the tone is a little condescending. “In fact, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how lucky I am compared to my younger Gen Y counterparts.” “The roughly 77 million young adults, or “Millennials,” now between the ages of 18 and 30 sometimes get knocked for being coddled by their well-meaning “helicopter” parents. And maybe that’s true. But, I feel bad for them anyway.” “Those lucky enough to land jobs and make small contributions to their 401(k)s…” Wow is all I have to say. You make a lot of very broad assumptions that, as a “Millenial” myself, I find to be quite arrogant and blatantly wrong to boot. I graduated college in 2009 and got a job a year later doing exactly what I had studied for in college. Most of the employees at my company are between the ages of 23 and 30 and make more than many people double our age, so it seems to me that we “coddled Millenials” are doing pretty okay. We don’t need people feeling bad for us. I’m sure there are many Gen Y individuals out there who do fit your stereotype, but you’d do well to be a little more realistic and not include ALL (or even the majority) of us in that stereotype. It certainly doesn’t make you very likeable as an author (and by that very fact it makes you a rather ineffective author as well because we Millenials are not going to want to heed any advice you presume to throw our way). You need to work on your tone. On behalf of my fellow Millenials, sorry we can’t all be…
I’m a young Boomer. “The market will always go up in the long run” is the greatest marketing hoax ever foisted on the American people. It is the constant mantra of every investment institution (including Vanguard) and is even taught in our business schools. I encourage the younger generations not to accept the brainwashing. Think for yourselves and challenge these ideas. I don’t have much confidence in the market, but I do have confidence in the younger generations.
I tried your idea of putting my money in that market to try to make some more, but twice I was the looser. I figured that the Wall Street where these things are done are a little on the crooked side. And when I looked in to it–hey they are not banks at-all—they are guys gambling with our money and more than that, they can keep what they want if they win and maybe you will be sent a little of it, even though it was your money all the time! How’s that?
I’ll just put my money in hogs—at least they grow–and I can watch out for them
I am a recent grad with a high paying job and no student loan. This article describes the behavior of me and my peers pretty well. We horde cash at near 0% interest rate even though we have more than 1 year of expenses saved up. We pay off car loans in less than a year because 4% interest rate is “high”. We rarely contribute to 401k beyond the employer match because retirement is too far away. Most of my peers don’t own any stocks or bonds, partially because investing is a new concept to them, partially because they don’t want to gamble with their savings.
Some of my peers are finally coming around as they realize that inflation makes their real interest rate negative, so I suppose the Fed’s policies will eventually push Gen Ys into taking risks.
The youthful generation’s Y ‘s aversion to equity risk is a very serious problem for the U.S. economy. Without equity investing by the Y’s, a capital shortfall builds in the U.S. This will affect the ecology and tech frims. The very industries the Y’s love will experience stifled growth and innovation in the U.S. Driving these job industries, the Y’s love, to make moves and take jobs to other countries.
As a retired boomer, who holds a steady heavy equity mix, I do relazie the market cycles do reward over time spans. That I learned from my depression era relations who, despite the worst stock markets ever, held equties and retired more than adeqautely.
A bit of personal courage and diversity in the markets is a key to getting rewards. Understand risk and then take some risk! Your economy needs it.
Long termer equity guy
Buy bonds – see where that gets you over the long term.
…right, you have the right to be slaughtered in any stocks……..or stay in the hole years and years…..the stock market is a cruel sadistic excuse for a friend