No. of Recommendations: 5
My new mantra is "Would I never have to work again if there was a 50% drop in the market?" because gosh darnit, it's likely to happen!
I'm sure most of us here had substantial portions of our net worth drop 50% in 2008/2009. It wasn't obvious at the time that it would come back so quick, not to me anyhow. I've had the same mantra ever since. So, I worked longer than I had to, but, meh, no hardship since I liked doing it.
I have tried to convey to millennials, set on retiring at 40 on a 4 or 5% withdrawal rate, just how it feels to have your net worth drop by over 50% in a few months. I guess it's just something you have to experience (cue the Fred Schwed quote, but I won't repeat it).
