Bear Market -- When's a good time to buy and what?

[cardsagain74]

Going to offer a contrary point of view that I rarely see: be very cautious of the standard advice that the US stock market can always be counted on for a 9% per year return in the long run, you can't lose if you stay invested long enough, and similar assumptions.

This assumes that everything will work out similar in the next 50-100 years here as it has for the last 50-100, and it just doesn't work that way. Especially for a country that's only been around for 244 years and didn't start its massive economic boom until the last 100.

Our nation's GDP is now around 40 times what it was in the early 1960s, and we were already the globe's biggest superpower back then. How much more explosive economic expansion can really be expected from here?

Dynasties rise and fall, and when you're the current cream of the crop, it always seems like you'll shoot to the moon and your country's dominance will never end. I'm not saying that will happen (or even come close) during the lifetime of someone who's 23 now, but it's a reminder to keep any can't miss views in perspective.

All that being said, any 401k employer matching does give you a consistent small leg up. But even with that, you can't count on your 401 k to no doubt provide some huge retirement egg for you. Boring ol' principal-protected investments and savings may become a lot more necessary for the eventual golden years of anyone who just got out of college