Here’s what few tell you about market declines: they’re not the exception. They’re the rule. When we look at Singapore’s Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI), history gives us a sobering reality check. For the 32-year period between 1993 and 2024, the market experienced a peak-to-trough decline of 10 per cent or more in all but six of those years. Put another way, about eight out of every 10 years saw a market correction. Downturns of over 20 per cent are less frequent but still fairly common, happening in roughly one out of every three years. The enclosed graph provides a summary. Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence; Yahoo Finance; The Wall Street Journal; author’s calculation The odds are similar when we look at the US market. According to wealth manager Ben Carlson, the S&P 500 also experiences a 10 per cent correction about once every year-and-a-half or so. A bear market, defined as a fall of 20 per cent or more, historically hits the S&P 500 once every four years....