I was going from December, as per my earlier comment. In any case, if we're engaging in good faith then of course even 8.8% after near to 40 years is not what people mean when they talk about the market being a stable investment. The comment that started our little thread said,
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It’s a shame, as ETFs, and hell, index funds if you must, outperform savings on a 3 year or even less horizon.
Yes, my portfolio dropped 7% this month. I’m still up 6% YTD and 13% in the last 12 months.
My horizon is well over 5 years. It would be an easy way to slow or even reduce my net worth if I were to put it all in a savings account.
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He's clearly still expecting reasonable returns on mid-range time frames, which is what people mean when suggesting the market always goes up - not an annualized 0.25%, let alone loss, for the next 40 years.
