Also, people seem to have this rosey ideal of clear bull and bear markets. It makes sense because that's what we've grown to recognize from the recent boom/bust cycles of 2002 and 2008. It sounds so simple, just wait for 'the dip' and then buy. What people fail to realize is 1) that by the time you do get to the dip, it may not drop below where we are right now, and 2) instead of a dip, there may just be a long period of stagnation with no remarkable dip at all, and 3) even if there is a dip, it's equally difficult to 'call the bottom' as it is to 'call the top', and in most cases people miss on both ends, not just on one. Thus, this idea that even after nearly 10 years of solid growth that you'll be able to know for sure that there will be a significant >5% drop, that the drop will end up lower than the market today, and that you'll be able to buy at that bottom instead of waiting too long and missing it is a highly optimistic view of your ability to accurately predict a stock market that is pretty much impossible to predict in the short term.