1) the S&P500 is a measure of expected future growth for a very small percentage of companies out there. The S&P500 has been going up like crazy for years, and

1) the S&P500 is a measure of expected future growth for a very small percentage of companies out there. The S&P500 has been going up like crazy for years, and the S&P500 started off down quite a bit in early 2019 after taking a 7% loss in 2018. The two year average return is only ~12%pa and the five year average return was about 10%pa. 2) the largest companies in the S&P 500 represent a tiny slice of US GDP. 21% of the S&P 500 are IT companies, as are 4 of the top 5 companies. However, IT represents only 6% of the total US private industry GDP. Thus, the S&P500 does not represent the economy at large. It's the economic equivalent of an opinion poll containing only redheads. 3) Money paid in taxes by such firms in taxes also benefits your parents and everyone else, just in different ways.