The Retail Investor’s 2025 Scorecard

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2025 was a good year for markets on paper - but a more complicated year to live through as a retail investor. U.S. equities finished the year up in the mid-teens, yet the path there was uneven, with policy shocks and crowded narratives repeatedly repricing risk. 

That gap matters. When headlines say “strong year” but portfolios feel volatile, investors tend to overcorrect - chasing what worked late, abandoning what worked slowly, and confusing activity with progress.

The scorecard for 2025 is therefore less about “best asset class” and more about what the year rewarded: diversification, patience, and a clearer view of liquidity. It also exposed what breaks first when conditions tighten: concentrated bets, story-driven trades, and anything that depends on perfect timing. Bitcoin was a useful example - it reached new highs during the year, but still looked set to finish 2025 down more than 6%.