Quick Read – SPY’s 248% 10-year return, which saw its price climb from $212 to $738, survived a pandemic, a bear market, and banking scares simply by staying invested. – Carlson warns survivorship bias makes lottery-ticket investing look viable because social media shows only…
nners, hiding the majority who lost everything. – A VIX spike to 22 and consumer sentiment near recessionary lows at 50 are pushing wealthy investors to demand hidden strategies that don’t exist. – Ben Carlson, the Ritholtz Wealth Management portfolio manager who built his audience writing A Wealth of Common Sense, just dropped one of the more deflating answers any wealthy client ever hears. Speaking on the Investing for Beginners Podcast episode “The Truth About Market Timing, Crashes, and Long-Term Investing,” he described a pattern he sees on repeat: clients with serious money pulling him aside to whisper the same question. “A lot of people who have a decent amount of money go, but seriously, tell me, what is it?
Right? Like, just between you and me, what is it? There’s got to be like this holy grail,” Carlson said.
His answer, after years of studying strategies, managers, and funds: “My secret is that there really is no secret.” Why the Question Keeps Coming Up Now The pressure to find a shortcut is climate-driven. The CBOE Volatility Index sits at 21.51 as of June 5, 2026. That was a 39.7% one-day jump from 15.40 in the prior session.