8 lessons retirees can learn from past bear markets

Stock market downturns can feel like a gut punch. Your portfolio reflects years of savings and earnings, and it’s hard to watch it spiral. What's a retiree to do at such

stomach-churning times?   Very little, advises Tara Lawson, a wealth strategist at U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management. “It is essential not to panic and remember that market corrections,

while unpleasant, are a normal part of investing,” she says. A bear market is an ongoing decline in stock market prices. A stock index is considered to be in bear territory when the value

falls 20 percent from the previous high. For example, the S&P 500 — which tracks the stock prices of 500 of the largest U.S. companies — hit a record price of 6,147 on February 19, 2025,

meaning it would enter a bear market if the index falls below 4,917. That hasn't happened yet, but the Nasdaq Composite, which primarily tracks tech stocks, recently fell into bear

territory. The index hit a record high of 20,173 on December 16, 2024; amid months of tariff-induced volatility, it sank to 15,267 on April 8, 2025.   Looking at past stock market trends

and results is no guarantee of future performance, but it can help steady nerves during turbulent times. Here are eight important lessons retirees can glean from prior bear markets. 1. BEAR

MARKETS HAPPEN REGULARLY In a perfect world — for retirees and, really, investors of all ages — the stock market would only go up, but we all know that’s not what happens. In fact,

there's a bear market roughly every six years, according to Fidelity. But that’s just an average — no one has a crystal ball that can predict the market’s trajectory. Recent bear

markets were spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2008-2009 financial crisis and the bursting of the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s. With decades of investing under your belt, you’ve

lived through bear markets. As you deal with the current market turmoil, remember how you felt the last time things went south — and how you eventually made it to the other side. 2. BEAR

MARKETS TYPICALLY DO NOT LAST LONG No one can predict exactly how long a downturn will last, but past bear markets have usually been short. A bear market ends when an index's price

increases 20 percent above the next low. Say the S&P 500 bottoms out at 4,500 points. It would need to rebound to at least 5,400 points to re-enter what’s known as a bull market, the

positive mirror image of a bear market when stock prices are generally rising. Since 1929, bear markets have lasted 289 days on average, according to Hartford Funds, an investment management

company. That’s not always the case, though — the bear market that began in 2000 after the dot-com bubble lasted more than two years.