Since the 1920s, there have been only four ten-year periods when the S&P 500 has been in negative territory for the entire time. Those are the ten-year periods that ended in 1938 and 1939, and the ten-year periods that ended in 2008 and 2009. The very worst period was the one from 1998 to 2008, when the S&P 500 lost 1.38 percent of its value.
None of that should be any surprise. But the precedent for the times following those losses is very good. After the eight worst ten-year periods for the S&P 500, in the ensuing ten tears, the value of the index increased by more than 100 percent. On average, the annual return over those next ten years was 12 percent.
Of course, past performance is no guarantee of future results. But the long-term odds, as always, look good. If you're invested for the long term, consider that fully 95 percent of the S&P 500's ten-year returns have been positive.
No comments:
Post a Comment