I read a very nice blog on bear market recovery here . While you can check out the blog in detail as every word written is good piece of wisdom, here is the gist: - If you just refer to nominal returns, you will be looking at a distorted picture. To get an idea of real (pun intended) situation, look at inflation adjusted returns - For example, if one sees in nominal ROI terms, total length of worst bear market, the dotcom bust was 5 years***. This period includes markets downward leg, to the recovery time to breakeven status - However, once you bring inflation into picture, the same period stretches to 13 years***. That’s more than double the time for breakeven in nominal ROI terms That said, it is very rare for people to start thinking in real terms. It simply is “out to sight”. For me, the true realization...