Going into 2026 most of the headlines I’m seeing seem to be positive despite rocky sentiment through the year. Did the beginning of the years for two of the biggest recent crashes start positive or was there a lot of anxiety going into those years?
Thanks!
For those who have been investing for 20+ years – What was investing sentiment going into 2000? What about 2008?
byu/A_Saxen_A ininvesting
Posted by A_Saxen_A
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Not 20+ years but close to 18. Most times most people are hesitant to actually invest. Other than bare minimum contributions to 401k. There’s always a past bubble boogieman that will scare people. I work at a job making 6 figures with colleagues making more than me and these people say they don’t invest because that’s for “rich people”.
As someone who has done this for 18 years – spend less than you earn. Strive to earn more. Always, always continue investing in broad market funds.
As I recall before the run-up to 2000 talk about bubbles. Greenspan said something about irrational exuberance four years before 2000.
I remember 2008 the same as you described. I also believe that 1987 was similar..
My first daughter as born the first week of March 2000. I had been daytrading BioTech stocks for a few years (built $5K into $100K), and with a kid I decided to stop and invest in something safer. My father in law worked for WorldCom and telecommunications seemed like a solid bet so I parked my money there. As I recall first week of March 2000 was the peak of the Nasdaq, and I was soon back down to $5K. That actually was a pretty good and relatively cheap lesson for me, I’ve been index ETFs ever since.
I remember reading an article in early 2000 in the WSJ where a social researcher / analyst called the top of the market because the cashier at Taco Bell was giving him stock tips when they found out he worked for the WSJ. He’d been researching the level of euphoria in the market and that event was the final piece of evidence that convinced him. In 1999 everyone was opening ETrade accounts and talking about stocks, it was everywhere.
Things were pretty euphoric, there wasn’t much fear in the market like we are seeing right now.
I was investing through all of that. A lot of people back then were saying that the economy’s rules had changed. The “wisdom” of the past was outdated because the economy had fundamentally evolved. This was how they justified staying in the market, even doubling down, when the warning lights were flashing. The pigs got slaughtered. Others lost some money, but if they stayed in the S&P 500 and rode it out, they eventually made it back.
Greed and frenzy. I graduated into the dot com burst and was in California for the real estate meltdown. There was a palpable energy and a strong feeling of fomo. Despite having a math background I was confused. Math told me a 700k condo was not affordable, the realtors said it was, just cut out the $5 coffee. I didn’t buy at that price, but I couldn’t figure out how everyone else could. Turns out they couldn’t. I don’t see that same, math not making sense environment…well no, I do, but not like at the top of the housing bubble.
Leverage was a problem both times. Don’t invest money you don’t have in frothy, exciting things.
Graduating after dot com was wild. HR told us in orientation something about not taking out a 2nd mortgage to exercise options. I was about 23 so I was like wut?? Okay, but why would you even say such a thing?? Turns out people lost their houses and not just thier paper gains.
I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in 2026, but I can tell you if you see greed and mania everywhere don’t follow that crowd.
I started my market foray around 1999 to 2000. Felt like you could do no wrong with all the dot com excitement. Then 2001 came around and the bubble burst, everything fell apart. So, to answer the question, what was it like going into 2000? Things felt very optimistic, I had a lot of hope for the future. That all changed pretty quickly.