Many people want to profit from the long-term rise of the stock market but don't want to endure the pain of its short-term declines. This is actually unrealistic. There's no free lunch in the world; there's always a price behind any high return. It's just that the price of investing isn't written on a label like a product. When you buy a car, the price is clear: $30,000 is $30,000. When you go to Disney, the ticket price is clear: $100 is $100. But when you buy stocks or index funds, the market won't tell you in advance: one day in the future, your account might experience a drawdown of 10%, 20%...