[quote=Coronita]I am looking at one of my Vanguard accounts I had since 2002. I think it’s the oldest one out of the 26 accounts and it is consistently invested on index funds. Average return has been 7.1%…But there were years that it looked awful, like a deep downturn. Personally, that’s what I’m trying to avoid. Those deep downturns don’t matter if you have another 10-15 years to wait it out. But it would suck if you are drawing from it right after a downturn. I’ve been talking a lot more with people who are seriously considering early retirement. just thinking….

I guess it’s part of the ongoing The Great Resignation….lol…[/quote]

Problem with Covid is that it changes your thinking about life. Why keep working, risk dying or long term covid to make more money. If you have enough, why take risks? That 7.1% return worried me for a little but then I found this calculator https://dqydj.com/sp-500-return-calculator/ and those numbers were much better. Most likely it’s going to be 9% or much higher going forward.