[aianus]

> It seems to me that the rate of return has a lot to do with when you enter/exit the market

Most people "enter the market" continuously by depositing a percentage of their pay each month of their career and "exit the market" slowly and continuously during retirement 40 years later.

The booms and busts in between become irrelevant and you're left with a nice and high average rate of return.

[greenyoda]

In fact, even if you started investing in an S&P 500 index fund at the top of the market right before the big crash of 2007 (financial crisis), you'd still have a very decent return today.

[scorpioxy]

That article convinced me otherwise. I wish I could find it now because I'd love to get some input on the numbers that, I'm assuming, I'm reading correctly.

[Malician]

I can't check without the article, but some mistakes I've seen - ignoring reinvested dividends (~2%/yr,) and unrealistic tax figures

on the other side, you've got people who ignore inflation and assume 10% a year returns promising ridiculous growth