The market has been unsettling in 2026. For patient investors, it may also be the most important opportunity in years.
From its all-time high of 9,202 points in late February, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell over 900 points — a decline of more than 9% — to a low point of 8,262 in March. The trigger was a surge in global oil prices tied to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the uncertainty it injected into energy markets, household budgets, and central bank policy.
It was uncomfortable. It was also not unusual.
Image source: Getty Images
What history actually shows
Market corrections feel permanent when you are living through them. The data says otherwise.
UBS examined 15 geopolitical shocks over the past fifty years and found the ASX 200 returned an average of 4%, 5%, and 11% over the following three, six, and 12 months, respectively.
Longer term, the picture is even clearer. The S&P/ASX 200 Index has compounded at more than 9% per annum over the past 10 years, including dividends. When franking credits are factored in, the total return rises to an average compounding rate of 10.6%.
That is not a straight line. It includes crashes, corrections, pandemics, and inflation shocks. The long-run average holds anyway.
The compounding maths of a downturn
Here is the part most investors miss.
When you continue investing during a correction, every dollar buys more shares than it would have at the peak. Those extra shares then compound through the recovery and every subsequent year of growth.
At a 9% average annual return, $1,000 invested per month over 20 years compounds to approximately $670,000. Increase that to $1,200 per month — or take advantage of lower prices during a downturn to deploy additional capital — and the path to $1 million becomes achievable within the same timeframe.
The number shifts meaningfully depending on when you start and whether you stay invested. What does not change is the underlying logic: time in the market, not timing the market, is the primary driver of long-term wealth.
What to actually buy
What you buy matters. What matters even more is choosing an approach you can stick with when markets get noisy.
For some investors, that will mean keeping it simple with broad-based ETFs. Funds like the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) and iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) offer instant diversification and let investors participate in the long-term growth of hundreds of businesses through a single ASX-listed investment. That simplicity can be a real advantage during volatile periods, because a portfolio you understand is often a portfolio you are more likely to hold.
For others, building wealth through individual shares may be more appealing. The recent correction has created more attractive entry points across a range of high-quality businesses, including major technology names, software companies, and healthcare leaders that had previously traded at richer valuations. For investors willing to do the work, buying individual shares can be a way to back a smaller group of businesses with stronger conviction.
The key is not to pretend there is only one right way to invest. Investing is personal. The best portfolio is often the one that matches your temperament, your available time, and your ability to stay consistent. Whether that means broad ETFs, carefully chosen individual stocks, or a mix of both, the real goal is to build a strategy you can stick with long enough for compounding to do its job.
The Foolish takeaway
Nobody rings a bell at the bottom of a market correction. That is precisely why waiting for certainty before investing is a strategy that tends to fail.
From an index point of view, the ASX 200 has quickly rebounded from March lows. As readers will now know, it is quite common for falls to happen again, and further rebounds to new all-time highs will follow suit.
A $1 million portfolio is not built in a single decision. It is built through consistent investing, compounding over time, and the discipline not to flinch when the market does exactly what markets do.
