OK, so some guy buys a collection of firearms for 25K and 15 years later sells it for 50K. His return is just about 5% per annum. And he's had to store and care for the stuff for 15 years. Guys, this is an act of hobby, not investment. It's nice to collect something that you like and then maybe make a few bucks on it when you're done. But if you seriously want to retire off something or live on the returns for the next 20+ years a closet full of guns probably won't do it.
If someone's lost money in the stock market consistently for 18 years something's wrong. Seriously wrong. Any index fund would be way ahead. What is wrong is the entire retail financial industry - it is set up to fleece retail investors and, making exception for present company, financial advisors are an investor's worst enemy. In 50 years' investing I have met only one or two who were both honest and competent. And they only worked with very large portfolios.
The industry is rotten. Don't trust anybody other than yourself and if you can't or don't want to be responsible for your own market investment decisions buy a Vanguard index fund and be happy and play with your hobby.
