I'm paying about 10% into my 401k with my employer matching 6%. Every quarter when I read my report it seems that I've lost as much as I've put in due to rates dropping.

When the value of a portfolio goes down, that money is just gone. The market doesn't keep tally of winners and losers in bear market or bull market to make sure big losers become big winners later.

Value of a given asset only exists in the moment it is agreed upon by buyers and sellers, and it depends on countless variables and contexts. If you buy a thing you have that thing, but how much that thing is worth is whatever the market agrees it is worth. How much that thing will be worth at any point in the future is never certain.

There is no ironclad guarantee the stock market will go up again eventually. The risk of losing all your money in the stock market exists.

But the opportunity-cost of not investing? Well ...

/r/personalfinance Thread Parent