Secular bear markets can last decades before breaking out to new highs. A major bear market occurs every 5-20 years.
It is not just how much money your portfolio drops that tests your resolve. The events that surround these rough periods usually beat at you from every angle – work, your friends or families struggles, and the mainstream media loves it.
It is also one thing to see a few bad investment statements and brush it off knowing that the markets always recover. It is more difficult when you see that month after month, year after year. You question whether it is different this time and the media and your brother-in-law loves to tell you why it is.
This is why I created the Investin’ Intestinal Foritude Tester. It is a visualization exercise to simulate a bear market. It has a lot of interactive coding. So, there is a mobile and desktop version – you click the picture below to open it. Enter in the asset allocation you are considering and give it a try. See how it makes you feel. It you feel really bad, consider a less aggressive asset allocation.
