These days, looking at your portfolio should come with a “proceed with caution” warning. As investors, even though we understand that corrections and bear markets are inevitable, that doesn’t make them any less disheartening.
One common measuring stick for the stock market is the S&P 500. Historically, this index averages a positive return of about 7% - 7.5% per year or 10% per year when you add in dividends; however, if you’ve been following the headlines, you likely know that the S&P 500 is down around 25% for 2022 as of September 30.
In this article, we’ll explore what that figure means and what we can attempt to infer moving forward.