Stop trying to beat the market: Even the richest Americans can’t do it consistently

Stop trying to beat the market: Even the richest Americans can’t do it consistently Stop trying to beat the market: Even the richest Americans can’t do it consistently Data from the latest Forbes 400 list proves the power of index funds Not so gilded? The richest Americans had a below-market return on their wealth last year, and that’s not so unusual. n The 400 richest Americans would collectively have performed better over the past 12 months had they invested their net worths in an S&P 500 index fund. That conclusion emerges from the recently released 2026 edition of the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

Forbes reports that the combined wealth of this select group was about 21% higher on Sept. 4 than the comparable total of those on the 2025 list. That’s slightly less than the 21.7% total return of the S&P 500 Copyright ©2026 MarketWatch, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8 The government canceled her student loans due to a scam — but $72,000 is still on her credit report The case against buying and holding stocks for the long term I’m 52 with $1.2M.

I want to retire in 3 to 5 years. Can I make this happen myself? I spend my time and money caring for my aging mother — yet she gave my brother $100,000.

Mark Hulbert is a columnist for MarketWatch. His Hulbert Ratings service tracks investment newsletters that pay a flat fee to be audited. Intraday Data provided by FACTSET and subject to terms of use.

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