Stay the Course: The Hidden Power of Enduring Market Downturns
By Mark Lyman - Book a Demo!
Don’t like reading? Watch the YouTube video!
Over the past few decades, the market has endured its share of turmoil — the dot-com crash, the Great Recession, flash crashes, a global pandemic, inflation shocks, and multiple bear markets. Each felt different in the moment, yet amid every crisis, one truth has consistently held firm.
The market recovered. Every single time.
Index Investing: The Power of Passive Resilience
Most investors don't lose because of bad investments — they lose because they bail at the worst possible time.
That’s why index investing has quietly built more wealth than just about anything else over the past 50 years.
It doesn't promise to beat the market. It simply is the market.
And when the market recovers — which it always does — index investors recover too.
The key isn't predicting the recovery. It's being there when it happens.
The Magic of Staying the Course
When the headlines scream and your account balance drops, everything in you wants to act. Sell. Move to cash. Wait for the "right time" to re-enter.
But here's the brutal truth: the best days often follow the worst.
If you step out, you miss the bounce.
Every downturn feels unique in the moment — but they all rhyme in the end. History favors the steady, not the reactive.
Staying invested beats being right.
Our Story: Riding Out 2022 at LymanWealth
At LymanWealth, our strategy isn’t passive. It’s engineered. We invest using a math-driven system that trades leveraged ETFs with discipline and precision. It’s aggressive, yes — but it's also rules-based, backtested, and emotionless.
And it’s volatile.
In 2022, we were hit hard. Our strategy posted a -67.8% return that year vs the S&P’s -19.4% - our toughest test to date.
But here's what happened next:
2023 : +154.4%
2024 : +65.6%
Every client who stayed the course recovered their capital — and then some.
The Real Lesson: Conviction + Consistency
We didn’t lose a single client in 2022. That speaks volumes — not just about our strategy, but about the people we work with.
They trusted the process.
They knew we weren’t guessing.
They knew downturns were part of the model.
They knew the system was built for recovery.
And they were rewarded for their discipline.
Final Thought
Whether you're investing in index funds or using an algorithmic strategy like ours, the rule is the same:
You don't have to call the bottom — you just have to be there when it rises.
The market will fall again someday.
But so far, recovery is undefeated.
Stay the course, that’s where the real returns live.
