It’s definitely not common sense lol. People love to gamble and dream.

Yes they are, I’m up 30% over the past 3 years. Just buying and holding index funds. If you chase big gains, you’ll get them sometimes, but you’ll also get big losses that just cancel them out. Slow and steady wins the race.

If people are destitute after a 5% drop, they really need to reconsider their investment strategy. Index funds are the only viable way.