The point of my post is that you are buying shares of something, and that crashes and downturns don't permanently harm your 401k. Also, crashes when you are you

The point of my post is that you are buying shares of something, and that crashes and downturns don't permanently harm your 401k. Also, crashes when you are young are good because you get to buy cheap shares. I could have gone into more detail, as you have done here, but that's not the point. The point is that downturns like the Great Recession do not permanently harm someone's retirement.