Discipline.  The market rewards discipline.  It hurts, it’s supposed to. In the end it’s worth it.  With all the torture of the last 12 months and the wondering if we should “all get out before it’s too late”-we now have our answer.  As difficult as it may have been – discipline paid off.

The end of the first quarter of 2021 finds us 12 months from the US stock market low of March 23, 2020.  Long term investors that stayed invested through the market turmoil were very much rewarded for their discipline.

Many investors are optimistic about the future growth of the market.  The rebound continues strongly with the COVID vaccines rollout and stimulus packages.  David Booth, Founder of Dimensional Fund Advisors and University of Chicago Booth School of Business namesake said, “A year ago, at the end of March 2020, the S&P 500 was down nearly 20% and the world was scrambling into lockdown.  Many experts wrote articles telling us where we would be in a year.  I don’t remember reading any that said the S&P 500 Index would be up 56% over the next 12 months. But that is what happened.” And that is just the beginning of the story…