If a Bear Market Is Coming, History Says the Most Successful Investors All Share This 1 Habit
Key Points
The S&P 500 has climbed 12% in 2026, but the markets still face headwinds, from inflation to surging debt.
Bear markets, where stocks drop 20% from recent highs, can make investors feel forced to panic-sell.
History shows investors can't time the market, and some of the best days for stocks occur during bear markets.
The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) is up 12% so far in 2026, but that doesn't mean investors have forgotten about the headwinds the stock market faces. Stubborn inflation, rising interest rates to combat it, and $40 trillion in debt are all challenges the U.S. economy is trying to navigate.
That's not saying that stocks in general can't keep climbing, but with the S&P 500 slightly down over the last month, the reality of those challenges may be sinking in. And the worry is always that if the S&P 500 rally derails, a bear market may loom, clawing back those gains as stock prices fall 20% from recent highs.
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History, however, suggests that there's one habit successful investors can follow, even during a full-fledged bear market.
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The surprising truth about bear markets
Surprisingly enough, some of the best days to invest are when the markets are in a free-for-all. According to Hartford Funds, from 1996 through 2025, 48% of the best days to invest in the S&P 500 were during bear markets. The second-best time to invest was during the first two months of a bull market (28% of the best days to invest), while the third-best time to invest was during the rest of a bull market (24% of the best days to invest).
Moreover, according to the data, missing the best days for the S&P 500 can actually cost you money. For example, a hypothetical $10,000 investment in the S&P 500 in 1996 would have been worth $192,167 by the end of 2025. But for anyone who had sold and missed just the 10 best days of the market during all that time, that investment return drops by 56%, turning into $85,490. It continues to get worse from there: Missing the 20 best days yields just $49,551, and missing the 30 best days yields only $31,123.
The investable lesson
The most important habit for successful investing is that, no matter how tempting it may be to sell a stock during a bear market, it's almost always better to hold the shares. But another lesson is that more aggressive investors may want to consider buying additional shares of a company during this time. Bear markets won't last forever; the average length is 9.6 months. In comparison, bull markets tend to last 2.7 years. Also, while stocks lose an average of 35% during a bear market, they also gain an average of 112% during a bull market.
While seeing a stock lose 35% of its value in less than a year can feel gut-wrenching, having a portfolio of high-conviction positions already established can help offset knee-jerk reactions. Not only will an investor want to hold on to shares of those companies because they already believe in the wealth they could build over the long term, but they'd also want to buy more shares to take advantage of price drops.
Jack Delaney has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.