And I didn't do a single trade in the market since then until October of last year, just before the this last correction.
Sigh. Jennifer, Jennifer, Jennifer, I think the salient point you seem to be missing is that choosing NOT to invest in equities for 19-1/2 years
IS AN INVESTMENT DECISION. It's just a matter of what you chose to invest in, instead of an index fund, that makes it a horrible 20 year track record: restaruants, cars, toys and gadgets and whatnot.
The fact that you didn't know about index funds twenty years ago doesn't mitigate the amount of real returns you have missed out on since then. While challenging to quantify, those "opportunity losses" should be considered real, actual, losses, in terms of achieving your retirement goals. You can't get that time back. And despite all the glittering distractions, time is really the only thing any of us have to invest.
Only your investment style has changed; i.e., for the last 20 years your style took no thought or active management to implement. The style you are adopting now does require thought and active management. I sincerely hope you get better returns. I think you're bucking the odds with your current approach, but one can only hope I'm wrong. Your current approach is certainly no worse than just spending all of your money as it comes in.
Day-trading in a rising market can easily fool you into thinking you're a genius. I'm not saying you're not a genius; only that a few successes over an extremely short period of time while times are good doesn't prove it. Please don't make the mistake of thinking it does prove you are a genius. Humility, above all else, will serve you better than anything else with respect to investing. Without humility, you can rapidly become your own worst enemy.