Bear markets are the greatest peril for long term investors. To be a successful investor you need to be able to avoid or reduce the risk of this peril. What takes years to create can be wiped out in just months.

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	S&P 500 Bear Market Study September 1929 through December 2007 (78 years) Bear Market Duration % Decline Time to Break Even Sep '29 - Jun '32 33 months -86.7% 25.2 years Jul '33 - Mar '35 20 months -33.9% 2.3 years Mar '37 - Mar '38 12 months -54.5% 8.9 years Nov '38 - Apr '42 41 months -45.8% 6.4 years May '46 - Mar '48 22 months -28.1% 4.1 years Aug '56 - Oct '57 14 months -21.6% 2.1 years Dec '61 - Jun '62 6 months -28.0% 1.8 years Feb '66 - Oct '66 8 months -22.2% 1.4 years Nov '68 - May '70 18 months -36.1% 3.3 years Jan '73 - Oct '74 21 months -48.2% 7.6 years Nov '80 - Aug '82 21 months -27.1% 2.1 years Aug '87 - Dec '87 4 months -33.5% 1.9 years Jul '90 - Oct '90 3 months -19.9% 0.6 years Jul '98 - Aug '98 1 months -19.34% .25 years Mar '00 - Oct '02 31 months -49.15% 7.2 years averages 17 months -36.94% 5.01 years Bear markets can come at any time. On average, it takes 5.01 years to recover.