Why S&P 500 Alone Won’t Save Your Retirement

The Hidden Risks of ‘Buy and Hold’ Everyone Ignores

The other day, I stumbled upon a Reddit thread discussing how to make retirement as simple as possible. One user confidently replied that it’s as easy as buying the $SPY ETF and waiting. For those unfamiliar, $SPY is one of the most popular ETFs in the world. It physically replicates the performance of the S&P 500, offering exposure to the 500 largest companies in the U.S. stock market. On top of that, it provides a dividend yield of around 1-1.5%, meaning you can benefit from both capital appreciation and regular cash flows.

At first glance, this advice might sound appealing, simple, straightforward, and easy to follow. And judging by the number of upvotes, many people seemed to agree. But let me tell you: I completely disagree with this approach, and here’s why.

The Long-Term Chart Isn’t Always Your Friend

Let’s start by looking at the long-term chart of the S&P 500.