The financial crisis in 2008 had a major impact on many 401(k) plans

Alternative investments have become more popular since the 2008 financial crisis

When the traditional markets crashed during the 2008 financial crisis, many people saw the value of their traditional investments plummet and began to look into alternatives as a result.

Fees can eat away at your 401(k)

Every investment plan has an expense ratio—a percentage of the total assets that goes to the investment manager in the form of fees. Because 401(k) plans are so common, and many of their participants are not savvy investors, the relative expense ratio for them has often excessively increased.

What 401(k) savers near retirement can do amid market volatility

If you're close to retirement, volatility in the stock market can feel scary. This guide for 401(k) savers has suggestions on what to do with your retirement accounts during uncertain times, based on how close you are to the age you'd like to retire.

Researchers, experts, and retirees are finding that the 401(k) has left much to be desired

Baby Boomers, once the biggest generation, are now creating the largest wave of retirees in US history. Much of this generation is also the first to retire predominantly on the expectation that their 401(k) plans or similar tax-advantaged accounts performed well in the markets—which isn’t always the case.

Roughly 70 million Americans have 401(k) plans

Ted Benna, a rural benefits consultant, proposed a reinterpretation of a small tweak to the Internal Revenue Code in 1980. This led to a fundamental transformation of how American workers plan for retirement.

US pension plan adoption has declined from 1975 to 2021

Pension plans are a form of guaranteed retirement plan for long-time workers, and they were a major part of industries in the mid-20th century. With the rise of the 401(k) and similar tax-advantaged, defined-contribution accounts, these so-called defined-benefit plans have declined in use by employers. Compare US adoption of both kinds in this table.

Mutual funds are categorized as stock, bond, money market, and target-date funds

Each category has even more varieties of funds to choose from, but the biggest differences between these groups are the types of securities they invest in, their risks, returns, and entrance requirements.

Sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and Asia surged after the 2008 financial crisis

As the stock market plummeted in 2008, SWFs with cash on hand were able to snap up critically undervalued assets that eventually posted large profits. The Government of Singapore Investment Corp. and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority invested $14.4B in Citigroup, resulting in a $1.6B profit for the GSIC when it sold half of the holdings in 2009.

The 1929 stock market crash is a defining example of a financial bubble burst

Fueled by margin speculation and intense optimism, stock prices soared to unsustainable levels before collapsing in late October—erasing billions in market value within days.

In 2007, Bridgewater Associates warned of an impending financial crisis

Ray Dalio even presented his concerns to the US Treasury Secretary. In late 2025, Dalio warned of another recession, in line with models he created in his book "How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle."

FTX, one of the world's largest crypto exchanges, collapsed in 2022

As crypto markets declined during the post-pandemic slowdown, Sam Bankman-Fried propped up the markets with billions he'd earned leading FTX, one of the largest crypto exchanges. Then, in one of the most rapid financial implosions in modern history, the exchange collapsed as investors rushed to withdraw money.

In 2019, Congress passed the Secure Act to reform key aspects of the US tax code

Key Secure Act provisions included raising the age at which mandatory distributions take effect (to increase saving), allowing larger catch-up contributions for older individuals, and allowing employers to directly match contributions in a Roth 401(k).

In 2008, the 'Big Short' mastermind Michael Burry made more than $700M

Before the 2008 housing crisis, Burry used credit default swaps to bet against subprime mortgage-backed securities that fueled the 2008 housing crisis. His firm made more than $700M for its investors, and Burry made more than $100M in personal profits.

In late 2025, the top 10 companies in the S&P 500 made up more than 40% of the index's total value

This raised concerns for investors about the index's risk exposure. As many large tech companies continued posting record highs, analysts argued that the top-heavy index was becoming less representative of the economy as a whole.

Many retail investors exited the stock market after 2008, leading to a drop in individual market participation

That changed thanks to GameStop, federal stimulus checks, and strong corporate results in the first quarter of 2021. This chart plots how much retail investors poured into the market each day, reaching records in early 2023.

Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 filings can impact common stockholders

Publicly traded companies don’t file for bankruptcy out of nowhere—there are typically warning signs in a stock’s performance, quarterly earnings calls, and US Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

About 30% of financial advisors opted for fixed and indexed annuities in 2023

An infographic that shows the most common types of investments used by financial advisors with their clients in 2023 also found that nine in 10 advisors used ETFs, and three-quarters invested in cash and cash equivalents.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was created in the aftermath of a financial crisis

Charles Dow introduced the index in 1896, following the Panic of 1893—a severe economic downturn. The DJIA offered investors a straightforward tool to track recovery and gauge the health of America’s emerging industrial economy.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City’s Financial District in 2001, many banks decided to relocate

Much has been said about why today’s top banks are typically no longer headquartered on Wall Street itself. The terrorist attacks in New York City’s Financial District on Sept. 11, 2001, are one reason many banks decided to relocate.

See which companies folded and which survived the dot-com crash

Companies that primarily used the web as a platform for doing business were more vulnerable than companies that created technology. While hardware and software companies managed to make it to the other side, most e-commerce companies took a brutal beating and share prices plummeted.

The Federal Reserve's decisions can impact your money

Car loans, mortgages, business investments—these and more can be drastically impacted by the adjustment of the Federal Reserve’s federal funds rate. Alternatively, savers can earn higher, low-risk yields on their savings when the Fed’s target rate is higher.

Read Jeff Bezos' letter to Amazon shareholders from 2000, when shares were down more than 80%

"Ouch. It's been a brutal year for many in the capital markets and certainly for Amazon.com shareholders," the letter begins. Amazon shares were down more than 80% from the prior year at the time.

US homeownership rates declined from the start of the Great Recession through 2016

In 2004, the US homeownership rate was 69%. When the bubble popped in 2007, due to a variety of factors (including the prevalence of subprime mortgages) the Great Recession began. Foreclosures increased, as did the ratio of renters to homeowners. In 2016, the homeownership rate was at roughly 63.4%.

In 2021, Social Security began drawing down trust fund reserves to help pay for benefits

The Social Security trust funds are invested solely in US Treasury bonds. Any Social Security tax revenue surplus has historically been invested in these bonds, which are non-marketable securities available only to trust funds. The interest on these investments also contributes to program income.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Roughly 75% of Americans report feeling okay financially

Since 2022, fewer Americans report feeling worse off financially, moving from 35% in 2022 to 28% in 2025. Likewise, the number of Americans who reported feeling better about the economy is up 4% from 2022. More than 90% of Americans cite price increases as their biggest financial concern.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

See the evolution of Ebola vaccine and treatment development.

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.