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Don’t Make Me Say I Told You So 235

search for the lowest cost investment has become the ultimate
prize for many investors.

The average do-it-yourselfer saves a few dollars in fees, only

to give up a huge percentage of the gains they would have made
with sound investment decisions.

Growth of a Hypothetical $100,000 Investment (12/31/1999 - 12/31/2019)
10%

8%
$324,363
6%
$229,890 6.06%
4% 4.25%

2%

0%
Average Equity Investory Standard & Poor’s 500 Index
Source: Dalbar, 2020

According to the data above, almost half of “previous investors”
stopped or reduced their stock and mutual fund investments in
2009. Approximately $205 billion was pulled from stock funds in

2009. The S&P 500 returned almost 240% over the next 5-7 years.

This means that the average investor probably missed out on a
huge gain in their investment portfolio – possibly 100%, 150%,
even 200% or more – but they did save money in fees.

This chart shows that over the last 20 years, the average investor making a
$100,000 investment in equities missed out on approximately $100,000 in
gains by making bad investment decisions. Most of those bad decisions were
almost certainly based on using fear, rather than logic, as a decision-making
tool.
Chapter 5: Things That Can Wreck Your Retirement