The Myth of the Rising Stocks over Time

[kandrathe]

... If you can handle the volatility and potentially long periods of slow/no growth, as was the case from 1966 to 1981.

But mostly due to inflation, caused by bad fiscal, and monetary policy.

Was the 1966-1982 stock market really bad?



The bigger world of investing gets very complicated when you include property, commodity futures, precious metals or bonds.

If you had a fixed rate mortgage locked in at a low price, it was a great deal to invest in land before inflation took off. In borrowing, you pay back todays investment with tomorrow's inflated money.

E.g. my parents bought a 160 acre farm in 1969 for ~ $200 per acre, then (unintentionally) sold off 10 acres +house+farm buildings in 1977 for $200k. My dad, being also a carpenter, then took part of the net (~ $80k) and built a new house, with new outbuildings for the new farm. All things considered, a 6x ROI for the ~ $20,000 initial value in 8 years. My parents weren't avid investors, but they just accidently did the right thing at the right time and ended up that era with a nice nest egg.