Are Stocks Too Risky For Me?

History has shown that stocks can be more volatile, but also more rewarding over long time horizons. 

Research shows that $1 invested in 1925-2011, would grow to approximately $37,000 in small company stocks, to $7,346 in large company stocks, compared to only $142 in long term government bonds. (Essentials of Corporate Finance by Stephen Ross and Randolph Westerfield and Bradford Jordan).

While a 10% correction is expected once a year, a crash such as the one in 2007-2009 when the market lost more than 50% is rare.  Since the low in March 2009, the market is already up approximately 400%.

If your investment time horizon exceeds 10 years, you could build significant wealth through stocks. 

Stock markets do come with significant risk resulting in potential losses during individual years, therefore, stocks are not for everyone. The risk requires that the investor has a long term horizon and the patience to endure the inherent volatility associated with them.

While markets were slightly negative in 2018, they were significantly higher in 2019.  The Nasdaq was up approximately 35% and S&P 500 was up approximately 29% in 2019.