Deep thoughts from our recent travel:
Agora = Greek for marketplace
Phobia = Greek for fear
A close friend from childhood works in finance and earned his MBA but keeps the vast majority of his savings in CDs and treasuries that barely keep up with inflation.
His wife saw her parents lose a significant portion of their net worth (either in the crash of 2000 or 2008), and as a result has developed a firsthand knowledge of the down side of equity investing.
Consequently, my friend's plan is to pursue a one percent level of income (he's on his way to doing so, slowly but successfully) at a high level in finance in order to reach his retirement goals. It's a tough road, but if anyone can pull it off, he will.
Rather than a fear of open spaces, as defined by the latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, perhaps agoraphobia would be better defined as fear of the market?