How 'long' is 'long term'

Started by pkamm, 08/04/2008 11:49AM
Posted 08/04/2008 11:49AM Opening Post
I was doing some fun little research on markets & the CPI. Right now, adjusted for inflation, the DJIA, S&P500, and Nasdaq composite are all roughly where they were 10 to 11 years ago. You would have done much better with treasuries over the last decade, even with yields as crummy as they've been.

Commentators always say that stocks are investing for the long term, though they seldom mention how 'long' that actually means. A lot of people assume that's like 5 years or so. I think 'long term' pretty much needs to be 20 years or more.