This year has served as a reminder to the investment community that stocks can go down just as easily as they can rise. Since each of the major U.S. stock indexes hit their respective all-time highs between mid-November 2021 and the first week of January 2022, they've fallen into a bear market with peak declines ranging from 22% to 38%.

The good news is that bear markets represent the perfect buying opportunity for long-term investors. Best of all, with most online brokerages doing away with commission fees and minimum deposit requirements, any amount of money -- even $1,000 -- can be the ideal amount to begin building wealth on Wall Street.

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Source Fool.com