The average stock market returns will assist every investor in analyzing their own investment journey. By looking at the pattern of the financial markets over the years, the investors can find out about the usual ups and downs. They can learn about the fluctuations in the market and how this has impacted the returns over the years. They will also be able to find out how the financial markets recovered after that. The average stock market returns touch double-digit percentage points on an annual basis. People can see the past returns given by the financial markets each year to find out how to manage their own portfolios in the coming years. 

Does the Average Stock Market Returns Indicate Losses?

The negative returns in the financial markets happen periodically. But the historical information represents that the positive years are a lot more than the negative years. This year, the annualized returns over a decade for the S&P 500 Index were more than twelve percent. In a given period, the real returns that the investor may obtain from the financial markets can be very different from the average returns of the stock markets over the long term. This is because it takes many years to perform. Over a decade, a financial market index could grow. But there would be some years between that period when it would have seen some down years. When any financial market is going through fluctuations or a period of consistently negative returns, the media may start talking a lot about bear markets and corrections in the financial markets. Any market correction means that the financial markets declined by less than double-digit percentages from the previous high that they had achieved.

This can happen even in the middle of any ongoing financial year. The financial markets can even recover by the end of that year. Thus, any correction in the financial markets may never come as a negative in the returns calculated at the end of the year. A bear market is said to take place when the financial markets go down by more than one-fifth of their previous high for at least a couple of months. Such a bear market can continue for a couple of months and even a year. On average, they last for nearly a year. Two years ago, the financial markets became a bear market near the beginning of the year but ended the year positively. This pattern of returns differs over the various decades. During retirement, the investments may be exposed to some negative patterns. The negative years may happen at the beginning of your retirement. This is known by experts as sequence risk.

There can be a number of bad years. But that does not state that you should back out from investing in the financial markets. It only means that an investor must set realistic goals that can be achieved.

Impact Of Time On the Average Stock Market Returns

The down years of the financial markets do have an impact. But the amount to which they impact the investor is often calculated whether the investor decides to be invested or bailout. Any investor with a long-term view of their portfolio may have good returns over a period. But any investor with a short-term view who gets out quickly during a bad year may incur losses. During the recession fourteen years ago, the S&P 500 went down by more than thirty percent of its value. If any person had invested $100 at the start of the year in any index fund, he would have lost more than thirty percent of his money. At the end of that year, he would have lost more than $30. But the loss would only have been realized if you had sold off the investment at the end of the year. The amount of loss could lead the investment to take several years to get back to its original value. After that year, the starting value of your investment would have been $70.

In the following year, the market increased by nearly thirty percent. This would have increased the value of the investment to $90. This would still be less than the amount that you started with. But if you continued with the investment in the next year, you would have seen another growth of more than fourteen percent. The portfolio would have grown to $103. This is just about the level you started with. The next year, another positive year happened. There would have been another growth, but only by a couple of percentage points. It would not be until the next year that there would be another increase of more than fifteen percent that you would have some returns on your investment. So, the starting point during the recession was indeed quite bad for the investment. But you would not have been able to get back the value of the investment in this short period if you had sold that investment and invested in other avenues.

Average Stock Market Returns Show That No One Can Time the Market

No person can stay ahead of time when the financial markets experience a downturn. Suppose an investor does not dare to stay invested in a bear market. They may choose to be either prepared to lose money or stay out of the financial markets entirely. This is because no one can time the financial markets consistently to get in and out and not experience the down years. So if you are looking to invest in the financial markets, you will have to digest the negative years. Once you can begin to accept that, you will find it much simpler to stay with the long-term investment plan that you have created. The great news among all this information is that despite the risk that comes with investing your money in the financial markets, you can make a lot of wealth if you stay put over time. You have to be in it for the long haul and continue to boost your investments. You also have to manage the risk in the best possible manner. These measures will help you get better than average stock market returns and meet all the financial aims you have set for yourself.

On the contrary, if any person tries and utilizes the financial markets to create money fast or take part in activities that do not take any risk into consideration, they will find that the financial markets can be a very bad place for them. It is not true that a small amount of money can balloon into something big quickly in the financial markets. If that were the case, every person would get involved in it. Thus, short-term trading is not the best method to get better than average stock market returns for most people.

Conclusion

There are many lessons that every investor can learn by looking at the average stock market returns over the years. The lesson is that investors are more likely to get the maximum returns by investing their money in their portfolio for the long term. There is no steady and precise manner to predict which years will be the positive years and which years will see a little or big downturn. If that is the case, there is only one option for most investors who want to invest in the financial markets. They should purchase high-quality shares in a periodical manner across every condition in the financial markets. They should then keep on holding to those investments for several years. The evidence regarding this is so high that investors who try their hand at trading in the financial markets get bigger short-term returns based on short-term volatility predictions to get below-average stock market returns. The short-term traders also have to put in more effort and time. They also have to pay regular taxes and fees that lead to decreased profits.