You know and I know that the stock market will continue to be a good investment for the foreseeable long-term future. They got burned and are gun shy to get back in. There is no talking to them. I guess that was my point... Then they say, “how much have you made in the last 5 years?” and I can’t point to any appreciation in the overall market in that time. So for now, they have the facts on their side.
Where is the counterpoint to their argument except to point to the bull markets over the past 100 years and say, “have faith, those days will come again.” But they don’t have faith. They don’t believe me.
Who is to say stocks won’t move sideways for 5 more years before the next bull. They just don’t believe in stock market returns anymore and they aren’t investing in equities or mutual funds. I have no clue where they are putting their money. If they are putting it in cash investments, then they have beat most of those in equities this year by a wide margin.
They don’t have faith in stocks. What can I say? They lost their life savings, relatively small as they were, and they are determined not to get burned again. I changed work locations and haven’t seen them since last November, but I’m sure they are looking at this bear market and screaming “See, I told you!”
That means they had it all in tech stocks. I'd be gun shy too..