The FTSE 100 has finally reached 8,000 for the first time.  

Landmarks and round numbers have no scientific meaning, but....

"This one (landmark) has been greeted not with excitement so much as relief."

Bloomberg

The FTSE reached 7,000 in early 2015.

It has taken nearly eight years to climb another 14%, just 1.7% each year.  

But if you think that growth is depressing, get this one. 

In dollar terms, the FTSE’s plodding final step to hit 8k only brings it back

merely to a point that it first reached in dollar terms 25 years ago, in 1998.

In that time, for investors using Dollars, the rest of the world's stocks have trebled.

There are many reasons for this, including commodity weighting in that index and sterling value, but just think -  in order to catch up with the rest of the world the index at 8,000 has an upside to 24,000 for US investors.  The numbers exclude the dividend yield, but nonetheless are remarkable.

IFAs have operated in difficult times for the last 25 years.  Regulation and a soaring property market alongside unfashionable stock market investing has served up a contraction in the industry.   But "Land Ahoy!"  Now is the time to be in the game.