Blackhawk
Well-Known Member
The stock market is the ultimate ponzi scheme and don't forget the years in which you were investing were the highest returning years in history. To think that the rest of us will be able to count on 15% returns per year is hogwash. Basically what I'm saying is it was luck that you were able to get the returns and the retirement you have today and have the bulk of your balance invested when the market tripled in 5 years - for folks like me my return is negative or maybe 0% since investing in the last decade.
Glad it worked out for you but as they say "past performance is no guarantee of future results".
Hardly a Ponzi scheme. If you lost money over a 10 year period then you invested very poorly. I did not have a great deal of money to invest at first- but I put in a little over time and used the power of dollar cost averaging.
Just an example...
Say you had $10 extra a month at the begining of the Great Depression. You would imagine this is the worst time to invest as the market will lose something like 45% in the 1930s. However, if you invested that $10 for the next decade you would actually have a positive rate of return of about 5% if you invested in an index fund (okay, they did not have them back then). Not great, but not a negative return.
I've done the same. I invest a little every month no matter if the market is up or down. I push all my interest and dividends back into the market so when prices are low I get more shares at a discount.
Of course you can just piss and moan instead and complain how unfair the world is.