brwhiz wrote:
For the last year or so the boy has been walking DOWN the hill as far as the S&P 500 goes. Index funds are for those who haven't learned enough to take control of their investments or those who feel no discomfort watching 30% or more of their fund assets disappear and then take what seems like forever just to get back to where they were.

Hmmm, down the hill? I see the S&P500 boy walking up the hill at a 15% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) since 1982 (when I started investing). My portfolio's 20.5 year CAGR has done 17% per annum.

Over the last 135 years or so, the hill's "angle" has been at over 11% CAGR.

Seems like forever? I think you too confuse the yo-yo with the hill. I guess that's why I retired at age 38 (7 year ago) with a wife and four kids. I DIDN'T and DON'T confuse the two.

BTW, less than 2% of investors can claim to have beaten the S&P500 over the last 20 years. 5% over the last 10 years. And 20% over the last 5 years. If index fund investing were a school, it would rate an A+, and A, and a solid B.

In summary, broad-based index fund investing is a very smart way to invest. I did it for the first 13 years of my investing career.