- Retires at age 65 in 1995
- Has retirement portfolio worth $250,000
- Withdraws 5% of original $250,000 portfolio value or $12,500 annually for all years
- Average annualized return over 18 years is 11.74%
- 18 years later, portfolio is worth $609,650
We’re currently in one of the longest running bull markets in history. Since March 2009, the S&P 500 has risen 249 percent. After nearly a decade of growth, it’s easy to shrug off a potential downturn.
But if history repeats itself, we’re due for a correction. And your clients will need help to withstand the next downturn or bear market.
Watch our short video on the history of market cycles. Share it with your clients and start a conversation about market corrections.
No one knows for certain when this bull market will stop running. So don’t get caught guessing—download these useful guides to help your clients prepare for what comes next.
Consider a hypothetical scenario where two people—Polly and Peter—have nearly identical situations but have completely different outcomes due to one key difference: when they each decided to retire. Use the interactive chart below to see how the unfortunate timing of Peter’s market losses causes a major impact to his assets.
Use the toggle switches to view the performance of each portfolio and compare their values after 18 years of retirement.
After years of soaring speculations about the potential of any company with a “.com” in its name, the infamous “Dot-com” bubble finally burst. Following its peak in March of 2000, the NASDAQ® Composite index fell 78% for 30 months.
The Global Financial Crisis is considered the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It began in 2007 with a crisis in the subprime mortgage market in the U.S., and developed into a full-blown international banking catastrophe in 2008. 401(k) plan participants with $200,000 or more in their accounts saw the value of their portfolios drop by an average of more than 25%.
PAST S&P 500 INDEX PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS. THE S&P 500 INDEX IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR DIRECT INVESTMENT. This hypothetical chart is for illustrative purposes only and not indicative of any particular investment product. The chart reflects reinvestment of dividends but does not reflect any product charges, fees or the impact of any taxes over the time periods shown, all of which if shown would lower performance.
The annual total returns of the S&P 500 are shown from 1/1/95 through 12/31/17, with each year beginning on 1/1 and ending 12/31 for each calendar year shown.