Should You Really Invest in the Stock Market in 2026? Here's What History Says.

• More investors are becoming acrophobic that a recession oregon carnivore marketplace is connected the horizon.

• It tin beryllium tempting to debar investing close now, but past suggests the opposite.

• With the close strategy, you tin not lone past a downturn, but thrive.

• 10 stocks we similar amended than S&P 500 Index ›

As we caput into the caller year, it's clip to commencement reasoning astir however your investing strategy mightiness alteration successful 2026.

Some investors are acrophobic that a recession oregon carnivore marketplace whitethorn beryllium looming, with adjacent to one-third of investors admitting they consciousness "bearish" astir the market's adjacent six months, according to a December survey from the American Association of Individual Investors.

The aboriginal of the banal marketplace volition ever beryllium uncertain to a degree, but is it truly harmless to proceed investing successful 2026? History has promising quality for investors.

If a downturn is astir the corner, it whitethorn look safer to hold to bargain until prices drop. After all, with galore stocks astatine grounds highs, close present is simply a pricey clip to invest.

However, the unpredictability origin tin marque it astir intolerable to accurately clip the market. If you clasp disconnected connected investing present and stocks proceed to surge, you'll miss retired connected those gains. The longer you wait, the much net you could perchance forego.

But what if the marketplace does instrumentality a crook for the worse successful the coming months? The bully quality is that arsenic agelong arsenic you support a semipermanent outlook, it doesn't needfully substance whether you bargain astatine the perfect moment.

For example, backmost successful December 2007, the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) was connected the verge of plunging into the Great Recession. The scale mislaid much than fractional of its worth by 2009, and it took until 2012 for it to statesman reaching caller highs again.

Those years were unsmooth for investors, and if you'd invested successful December 2007, it whitethorn person seemed similar the worst imaginable infinitesimal to buy. After 10 years, though, the S&P 500 had earned full returns of much than 121%. By today, its full returns person surged to astir 560%.

In different words, if you'd invested $5,000 successful an S&P 500 scale money successful December 2007, you'd person astir $33,000 by contiguous -- contempt experiencing 1 of the longest and astir terrible recessions successful U.S. past successful that time.

This isn't to accidental that we're connected way to spot different Great Recession-level downturn successful 2026. Nobody -- adjacent the experts -- tin accidental for definite wherever the marketplace is headed successful the abbreviated term. But implicit the agelong haul, it's incredibly apt stocks volition thrive. History shows that adjacent if you put astatine a less-than-ideal time, staying successful the marketplace for astatine slightest a decennary oregon truthful is 1 of the champion ways to support your portfolio.