Yes, that’s not a typo. 1700%. It goes up and down, but the overall trend is up. It’s how I was able to retire very young and still live well and now pay for all the long term care my spouse needs, and still have plenty to pay for my probable future long term care. I couldn’t have done it on wages. So, that’s how.

able to recover. I lost thousands in my 401k and of investments.

What is left is not on the market any more.

So you took all your money out at the bottom of the market rather than leaving it in there?

You should have all your money in the market, except that which you need for the next 6 months. If you don't need anything in the next 6 months, leave it all in there. When you do start needing the money just take out what you need and leave the rest in there, it will recover.

you would have recovered 2× over by now. You only lose money when you sell at the low, otherwise it's just a paper loss and has always recovered .

And you invest long-term.

Market's down. People are saying that it hasn't bottomed out--but it'll almost certainly go higher in a few years. So the option is, if you have cash available, to put it in the market. Unless you're going to need the cash in the next couple of years and don't think you'll recoup the commission/fees or you think the market will go even lower and not rebound by then.

It's a big gamble short-term. And longer-term, it's a much smaller gamble. The psychological hit is when you see your $100k to up to $800k and then, a year before retirement, drop to $700k. "They stole $100k from me!" (That was my mother's response--the numbers aren't the real ones, the real ones were lower.) She missed the larger picture, which was that she got a good rate of return, several times greater than the Savings Bonds that she claimed were so much better.

Dollar cost averaging us when you invest the same small amount every month. This disciplines you to ignore the rises and falls, but makes money because you are buying more when the market drops and everyone else is selling at the wrong time.

Too poor to play stock market poker with the big spenders.

And you can start doing it with a small amount. Its the way to STOP being poor. Call Fidelity, or look i to Vanguard Star Fund.

We've identified a set of mutual funds for foreign and domestic equities, short- and mid-term bonds, commodities and REITs (we buy long-term bonds directly). Every month we invest the same amount regardless of whether the market is up or down.

I recall the multitude of posts the day after the 2016 election that advised people to take everything out of the stock market immediately. Wonder if they took their own advice ?

something I’d never done since I started investing in 82. If I had been young I would just have lightened up some, but in my mid seventies, with 40-50K a year in long term care expense for DH, I don’t want to bear the inevitable volatility which occurs when you have an insane, traitorous fascist for a President. So I’m down to about 15% equities.

And, although I would generally agree that this is not the place to get investing advice -I recommend Bogleheads.com- this particular thread has very good advice.