Financial Planning Fridays #45: A History of Bull Markets

As you likely know, we just began a new bull market on June 8, 2023. A bull market starts when an index, like the S&P 500 closes 20% higher from the low made during the previous bear market. I wanted to take a deeper look with you at what this has historically meant for stocks. This chart shows every bull market in the S&P 500 since the end of World War 2. We are now in number 15. The previous 14 bull markets shown here had an average return of 155% and lasted for 1,641 days. You will notice that not only have the returns been quite high, but they have lasted a very, very long-time before the next bear market- in fact the average was more than 4 years! Those waiting for the market to fall before adding to stock, have historically had to wait a very long time, and have missed out on significant returns. This is why it is so important to rebalance and purchase stocks while they are temporarily lower so that you can take advantage of these bullmarkets-like the one that we are now in. We are looking forward to taking advantage of this new bull market, just as we have taken advantage of the previous 5 in my career to help clients reach their long-term goals! Thank you and I look forward to talking with you again soon! Be on the lookout for our next Financial Planning Fridays episode. Subscribe to our Youtube Channel so you never miss an episode. Or contact us directly; schedule your 15-minute call with us today.