I always agree with you on these financial topics =) I remember back in October 2008 when we both commented that the best time to sink money into the stock mar

I always agree with you on these financial topics =) I remember back in October 2008 when we both commented that the best time to sink money into the stock market is exactly when everyone else is pulling out in fear. (I was 22 at the time and my most conservative index funds are currently up ~35%... individual investments have garnered even better returns) When the majority of people conclude that the "stock market is too risky", they usually look at the single problem of their investments tanking without looking at the bigger picture... which is: First, if you invest money without setting a stop limit (rule #1 of investing) then you shouldn't be investing. Second, if you invest in a quality index fund and you somehow do lose a majority of your investment (>50%), there are much larger problems at hand than just the loss of money. We're talking major economic / political / global unrest. After witnessing the Sept 11th downfall and the October 2008 crash, I've come to the conclusion that there needs to be some damn serious issues to cause a significant loss in investments... Again, all of which could be avoided through proper diversification and setting financial loss limits. ---- As a side note, I do think many people got lucky taking the "too big to fail" approach with many banks that ultimately received government guarantees. I do believe, however, that the snap-back we experienced in 2009 is NOT going to be the same in 2010. Obama has spent insane levels of money to prop up the economy and this sort of stomach-churning level of gov. spending simply cannot continue. 2010 will be the year for finding individual companies that have survived the recession trimming, but I honestly can't see the DOW/S&P indices going much higher.