Everyone would like to believe in a money benefactor – someone or something – to bestow financial security and freedom. This has been especially true for the generations of Americans who have never lived through tough economic times like the Great Depression. For those generations of Americans, the stock market was a great benefactor – a source of money magic – until the stock market crash of October 1987.
On October 19, 1987 (24 years ago today), known as Black Monday on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 508 points, an amazing drop of 22.6 percent. Approximately $500 billion in paper value was lost. Even though only 20 percent of Americans invested in the stock market at that time, the crash had a rippling effect that impacted on everything from consumer spending to pension plans.
