How long does a bear market last?
Last but not least would you leave these "risky stock market investments" where they are? Lincoln FInancial is running my 403B. I dont want to retire for about 25 years.
Answer:
The Dow runs on a 17-18 year secular bull/secular bear cycle. The last bull ran from 1982 to 2000 (18 years). So, we can assume that this bear will run about 17-18 years. We are 6 years in, so we have another 11-12 years to run on this secular bear.
A conservative rule of thumb is that you don't want to invest in something that cannot recover in 20 years. From an overall market risk perspective, you are okay at this point. As you get closer to your retirement point, draw down the stock aspect and put it into conservative, fixed income investments.
You should not invest your retirement in something that you, yourself, consider to be "risky stock market investments". You should either move the money or learn more about the investment types to see if the fear has a strong basis or is unfounded. You should be able to sleep at night.
For many people bear market lasts just long enough to sell at the very bottom. You don't have to be one of them.
Without knowing what your investments are, I can not give you any specific advice other than the following.
The situation in the U S does not look promising for several years to come. High energy costs, bloated consumer debt, bloated government debt, bloated balance of trade deficit, bloated health care costs, bloated housing costs, and bloated unfunded obligations. The dollar looks very unhealthy.
That does not mean that all investments will necessarily drop in value but it does mean that the odds are against many. T-bills should be one of your options as should foreign government debt issues to protect against the falling dollar. Oil should be a reasonably safe investment provided the government does not implement price controls, a distinct possibility. Though with most of the oil coming from foreign sources their options are limited. Gold might also have a small place in your portfolio.
Large cap stocks have performed terribly and continue to look extremely weak. Stocks that I thought were great buys 10 points higher are now testing their new lows.
A bear market lasts exactly as long as it does. The business cycle is unpredictable and subject to "chance, kings, and desperate men". Japan suffered a bear market for most of the last decade, as the Nikkei has been almost flat since their economy tanked in the early 1990s.
There isn't any way to predict how long things will continue to go one way or the other.
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