{"id":9467,"date":"2021-04-05T05:51:51","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T05:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zackspcg.com\/blog\/?p=9467"},"modified":"2022-02-26T13:05:52","modified_gmt":"2022-02-26T13:05:52","slug":"3-lessons-from-the-2020-bear-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/3-lessons-from-the-2020-bear-market\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Lessons From the 2020 Bear Market"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Covid-19 bear market ended just over a year ago, on\nMarch 23, 2020. Needless to say, the twelve months that followed delivered no\nshortage of economic and political twists and turns. But for equity investors\nwho kept a steady hand and a long-term mindset, it also delivered a +75% return\non the S&P 500 (from March 23, 2020 to March 23, 2021).1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on the last twelve months, I find it useful to\nthink about lessons and takeaways we can learn from, so we can apply them to\nour investment approach going forward. Here are my top three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesson #1: Work with\na Trusted Advisor to Help Keep You on Track<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world was awash in uncertainty this time last year, and\nno one knew what the future would hold. Markets were frazzled, folks were\nscared, and no one really understood any details about the nature of the\npandemic. But it was also as important as ever, in my view, to stay invested\nand keep a steady hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Instead of Timing the Market, Focus on Your Long-Term Financial Goals!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amongst the many lessons that can be learned from a bear\nmarket, the most important lesson is to not time it. When the pandemic started\nlast year around this time, investors were questioning how to plan out their\nfinancial future. Still to this day, there are still reasons to be uncertain\nand cautious in your decision-making process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have always been factors that heavily shifted the\nmarket in the past, but over time there has also been a positive return . So,\ninstead of focusing on short-term choices, I recommend sticking to the\nfundamentals and maintaining a diversified portfolio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help you do this, I am offering all readers our\njust-released Stock Market Outlook report. This report contains some of our key\nforecasts to consider such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n