Couple of additional thoughts which may be useful, Mare.

Your husband is correct that a stock might rebound and, so long as the company exists, it has value. It is a diversification.

A share in a mutual fund that holds stocks for you is completely fiat. If you want to own a stock, its probably best to buy it directly.

Think of the big fund holders as casinos. 'The house' always wins in the end even if some players manage to win small. These financial ecosystems are made to steer passive, retail investors away from the products that might pay well. To buy commodities or foreign currencies you have to go through a broker or take classes and pass tests.

Its like a monopoly game where one player has nearly all the property on the board, who then invites 6 new players into the game. They start with their $2,000 and make $200 more each time around. But in only a few circuits, they've lost everything they started with and have no rent revenue because there's nothing to buy.

Makes so much sense. Thanx for the education.
Aren't mutual funds a bunch of different companies in one?

I remember watching a movie, can't remember name of it about a group of guys that set up a fake company (Ben Affleck) & basically steal ppl's $$ telling them about fake stocks. In the end they get caught. I think true story.