Stock Market Returns Are Anything but Average
I'm going to add that I did a rudimentary an analysis of the S&P 500 because everyone seems to be throwing their money into passive S&P500 low vehicle investments.  I looked at every hold period since inception from 1 year holds / returns up to 40 year hold and returns.<p>Timing is crucial for good returns - depending on when you put in and take out your money the returns can be negative (even in cases where you hold up to 15 years) and in other cases quite good (best cases inflation adjusted annualized returns of 12% over 40 years).<p>I did it because I didn't buy the commentary that you should just put it in S&P 500 and that it will almost guarantee returns.