January's 10 per cent fall in the bellwether FTSE-100 index was merely the latest phase of a three-year-long retreat by share prices.
And of course you do not have to be invested directly in shares in order to feel the pain - equities are a key element of almost all longterm savings products like pensions, endowments and withprofits funds.
It was estimated this week that the average pension fund weighted two-thirds in favour of shares is worth 30 per cent less now that three years ago.
Someone sitting a pretty healthy pension pot of pounds 100,000 in 2000 could have expected it buy them a retirement income, or annuity, of pounds 9,000 a year.
Today that fund is worth only pounds 70,000 and the income it buys has shrunk to pounds 6,300.
Figures like that only drive home the message that today's pre-retirement generation must save more, retire later or accept a lower standard of living once they give up work - possibly all three.
Even cautious types who have played safe and kept their savings in cash form are losing out.
Before Thursday's quarter point cut the Bank of England had kept base rate pegged at four per cent for 14 months running. The last time we saw such a rate was in 1963 when the average instant access cash account was paying 5.17 per cent gross, according to Moneyfacts, the financial information group.
The same type of account today pays just 0.45 per cent - and that represents a cut of more than 90 per cent.
And those who are prepared to tie up their money are not much better off.
Moneyfact's figures show that since 1988 alone the return on an average 90 Day savings account has shrunk from 9.59 per cent to 2.5 per cent - a cut of 74 per cent.
But while a decent return on your money may be hard to come by these days, some things are in abundant supply - predictions and advice.
This week's clutch of predictions have been especially gloomy. Investment bank ABN Amro, for example, said it could be 15 years before the stock market recovers to its 1999 highs.
And Paul Brewster, head of market research at JPMorgan Fleming, opined: 'We are into a bear market, the depths of which have not been seen since the 1940s.
'The looming threat of war with Iraq is casting a shadow over the markets and has shattered any hope of a recovery in investor sentiment in the first quarter of 2003.'
So what should investors do? According to Brian Dennehy of independent financial advisers Dennehy Williams one they should not be doing is worrying about a bear market.
'Words of comfort in the midst of a bear market are inappropriate - you simply need to make a hard-nosed decision about whether you can cope with risk investments, and crystallising losses should be regarded as the price of experience,' says Mr Dennehy.
'For example, if you can't sleep at night because of the worry, sell - you have no place in risk investments.
'And as you sell, tell yourself that 'in years to come the market will be higher than the point at which I sold but I know risk investments are not right for me'. 'Bear markets play games with your mind and some investors may just need assistance to think a little more rationally.'
Dennehy Williams' numbercrunchers say the Footsie 100 could fall as low as 2700 before the bear market reaches bottom and longer term it could settle around 3000.
'The bear market certainly seems to have further to run,' said Brian Dennehy.
'We also need to remember that the stock market is a discounting mechanism and it is discounting an economic downturn that could be severe, with rising unemployment and falling house prices to name two potential problems. 'With such a possibility a more fundamental review of your finances should be a priority.'
Mr Dennehy suggests that investors should look at protected funds such as the HSBC Capital Protected Growth Plan. He says these are simple and straightforward investments and he expects more to come on the market in the coming weeks.
An interesting spin-off of this week's debate is that the overhyping of financial products could be a thing of the past as shellshocked investors develop healthier sceptical attitude to the industry's claims.
Labelling investors 'stupid' and 'greedy' as one City fund manager was reported to have done (he later claimed that that was not what he meant to say) didn't help.
But at least it gave Jason Hollands of investment group Isis Asset Managment the chance to air a view that, with luck, will gain ground in the City.
'If there is to be a blame game then it is the financial services industry which needs to face up to its role in fuelling unrealistic expectations of future returns and thereby contributing to the current crisis in investor confidence,' Mr Hollands said.
'Too often specialist funds have been launched when market departments see a good sales opportunity rather than when the investment fundamentals make sense.
'If the industry is to regain the trust of investors it needs to show it can act responsibly when promoting products and it is doing more to help educate investors.'
Looking ahead he said: 'We think there are very few 'big wins' to be had in mainstream investment over the next few years.
'Cash investments pay low rates of interest. Bonds funds offer higher yields than cash, but can be vulnerable if interest rates rise. We think that the best returns from the property market are now in the past. And overall, we expect equity markets to be volatile and slow-growing for several years.
'But the news isn't all bad. Crucially, the low rate of inflation means that real returns are likely to be quite acceptable by historical standards. And in both bonds and equities, among the huge variety of securities on the market there will be a number that offer opportunities for the shrewd investor (and the shrewd fund manager).
'The performance of average investments may be uninspiring, but the performance of the best will be much more impressive.' Tony Pounds, the Birmingham-based regional manager of Ernst & Young Financial Management, takes a similar line to Mr Hollands.
'Investor confidence is often driven by their perception of the market,' he said.
'And in the '80s Margaret Thatcher's government created a generation who believed they could go into the stock market for roughly the same amount of time it took to order a pizza and shortly afterwards a sizzling profit was delivered to your door.'
Mr Pounds' prescription for the stock market blues is to put your money investment trusts.
'They offer a reasonable bet for both the first time and the sophisticated investor because they spread the risk over a variety of stocks and sectors.
'The Association of Investment Trust Companies has recently been quoted supporting a return to long established blue chip investment trusts that quietly go about their business delivering steady, regular returns to those prepared to invest for the long term.'
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