In case you haven't been paying attention, the stock market has been on fire lately. The S&P 500, which includes 500 of America's biggest companies that together make up about 80% of the total U.S. market's value, was recently up nearly 18% year to date. (Over long periods, the S&P 500's average annual gain is closer to 10%.) And that's on top of a 26% gain in 2023.

If you're kicking yourself for having missed it, it's not too late to jump into the stock market -- even though, as always, it might drop sharply tomorrow or next year. It might not, though, and the S&P 500 is fully capable of posting gains for multiple years in a row. Thus, the key is to plan to remain invested for many years -- to be a long-term investor.

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Source Fool.com