A lot of investors rely on the market for progress towards achieving their financial goals however, this reliance assumes that the market is going to agree with where we want to go. Day-to-day, month-to-month, and year-over-year, the direction of the market is not a certainty. Yes, the market is a great tool and does give us the opportunity for growth of our money over time, but we also need to carefully examine some of the assumptions about the market that our financial future is based on. How reliable are these assumptions? What is the real potential for loss in the market? What is realistic when it comes to an assumption for positive returns? What is the frequency and magnitude of downturns? Most importantly, if downturns do happen, how much impact will that have in achieving progress towards your financial goals or on your lifestyle confidence? John answers these questions and more in this week's edition of Financial Focus.