One of the major problems I see facing investors today is that the Wall Street “marketing machine” is still selling a bad model (see why I started this blog here). Many investors are placed into the typical pie chart type asset allocation and told to hold on for the long run. That’s great if you are an endowment and have 50 plus years to wait – but not so great for everyone else.

I came across a few charts that every investor should be aware of from dshort.com and Advisor Perspectives showing the actual performance of the US stock market since 2000.

Not good for the buy and hold group – especially those baby boomers who hope to retire in the near future…

Now factor in inflation:

Growth of a $1,000 since 2000: