I came across the below graphic in an article I was reading; unfortunately, I sent a screenshot to myself, but I can’t recall the article or else I’d send that along, too. We can see the types of drops the Dow Jones Industrial Average has seen over a century plus time frame. I underlined ‘has’ because it’s important to remember what has happened is no indicator of what will happen – future outcomes will be the same, better, or worse. But the bigger point is it’s not uncommon to see large drops. Yes, the moves are frightening and the same wild swings to the upside don’t elicit the same reaction, but in reality, these moves are common and are short-lived. Even the 20% or more drop is short-lived when they occur over a lifetime of investing and growing your wealth…and if we have heavy exposure to stocks then we must understand we’re investing for the long-term anyhow and we can’t let short-term movements derail our long-term focus.
