Comment by asdff
19 hours ago
In a spherical cow sense sure. But no one is buying the market return when they buy even a total market index fund. Other commenter is right, they are expecting past performance of these index funds to be indicative of future returns. But then again they aren't really actively investing either. Automatic contributions pervert a lot of the efficient market hypothesis ideas I think since these people are buying, routinely, maybe as long as they are alive, with no information in front of them.
I've always wondered what happens as we approach a structural event, such as peak population, that reduces this positive pressure.
You brought a real economy issue to a finance economy discussion.
One of the hottest questions, yes! ++1
And its not that discussed,as Id say: What happens if the number of people interested in buying ETF are shrinking in numbers?
For sure, the liquidity will stay out there - somewhere, somehow. But what impact on stock/index prices?
Boomers now retiring, in most western countries this is the biggest cohort of all time - what happens if they want cash for stocks?