Fourteen years of low interest rates and a higher stock market lulled investors into believing any downturn in the market would just be a blip on the screen.  That is, until this year.  A generation of investors have never seen a true bear market or negative returns for an extended period of time. Market declines are humbling.  Stocks and bonds both fell at once in the first five months of this year,  which is not the norm. It makes some sense after the strength in both markets over the past ten years and the appetite for risk as the markets moved higher.  Stocks especially were the only game in town until this year because returns were so low from the alternatives, including bonds.