Not according to Jeremy Siegel. Professor Siegel spoke to financial advisers at Pershing LLC’s national conference in Florida and delivered the following message:
“The S&P 500, now at just under 1,100, would have to rise to 1,500 – a roughly 35% increase – to return to its long-term trend line going back to 1935. From any historical standpoint, you’re not too late. You still have an excellent market to give you extraordinary returns going forward.”
According to Investment News, Jeremy Siegel thinks the current period is similar to the post-World War II era, when people expected a recession and avoided stocks. Investors then flocked to government bonds at low yields and got slaughtered over the next 30 years.
Looks to me like history will once again repeat itself. The individual investor will unfortunately wait until interest rates rise to sell their bonds at lower prices. Not to mention the issue that municipalities will face in the coming years will many individual investors who have not properly diversified their portfolios thinking that they were safe!