“Eventually, the market will come back”

The sobering news is that the market had 15 separate episodes in which stocks fell at least 20 percent. 

On average, these were the findings from those bear markets:

Total loss from market peak: 34.8 percent.

Duration of the decline until the market bottom: 264 trading days.

Time required to recoup those losses after the bottom: 567 trading days.

Remember, those are average figures.

Tons of academic research suggests that it is fruitless to try to outsmart the market, so I use diversified low-cost index funds that track the entire stock and bond universe in the expectation of long-term gains.

This approach makes sense for people with long horizons, but the earlier you need the money, the more difficult your choices will be.

U.S. government I bonds, which now yield 9.62 percent, a rate that is reset every six months. 

Jeff Sommer NYT 27 May 2022

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/27/business/stock-market-bear-bull.html

I-Bonds are U.S. savings bonds whose yields are adjusted by the prevailing inflation rate

https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2022/04/i-bonds-are-us-savings-bonds-whose.html