There have always been reasons not to invest.  As evidenced in the past few decades, there is a long list of events that have made headlines and have caused people to be too worried about world events to invest.

Here's a list of some of the those events from the past few decades that have made headlines:


1980's

• 1980: Energy stocks suddenly drop after climbing from 1976-1980.
• 1981: AIDS enters the global consciousness.
• 1981: An attempt is made on the life of Ronald Reagan.
• 1982: Tight monetary policy causes U.S. recession/unemployment at 10%.
• 1986: Chernobyl.
• 1987: The Dow plummets 22.6% in one day.

1990's

• 1990: Iraq invades Kuwait.
• 1991: Savings and Loan crisis.
• 1994: Federal Reserve raises rates seven times, causing the worst U.S.bond market in history.
• 1997: Currency crisis in Asia.
• 1999: Y2K fears.

2000's

• 2000: The Dow and S&P 500 post first down year since 1990. The Tech bubble bursts on March 24, 2000.
• 2001: Terrorists attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
• 2002: Corporate scandals, like Enron, make headlines.
• 2005: Hurricanes devastate the southern U.S.

As you can see, there is always something to worry about.  However, in spite of all these events, $100,000 invested in equities (represented by the S&P 500) on January 1, 1980 grew to $2,975,998 through 2006!  That's an average annual return of 13.4%.  What's the lesson?  Looking past the headlines and focusing on long-term goals has its rewards.

If you have any questions regarding this article, please feel free to contact Michael Howard, Partner with Anchor Financial Group. Michael can be reached at 717-975-0509.