Decades vs. Days

Southeastern Trust believes in resilience. Investing is an activity that requires you to think in terms of decades rather than days if you want to see your wealth multiply. This is a helpful reminder in the middle of a crisis dominated by the 24-hour news cycle. During volatile days like this, we need to remember the market rewards decades rather than days.

Here are three of the worst days in recent stock market history compared with the market on the same date a decade later:

October 19, 1987 = 1,738.74 (Black Monday)
October 19, 1997 = 7,847.03
+351%

September 17, 2001 = 8,920.70 (First trading day after 9/11)
September 17, 2011 = 11,509.09
+29%

October 15, 2008 = 8,577.91 (Financial markets collapse)
October 15, 2018 = 25,250.55
+195%

We believe in resilience. We design our clients’ portfolio to be resilient, understanding there will be volatile days to mitigate against. We have a resilient team with decades of experience helping clients navigate moments like this.

We believe our country is resilient as it has proven countless times. We celebrate the great examples of resilience all around us during this crisis as nurses and doctors continue to work long hours and put themselves in harms way to care for the sick.

These days are very difficult. But we know the market is resilient. When it comes to investing, don’t let the days distract you from the decades. Be assured, Southeastern Trust will be with you the entire way.