The power of compound interest isn't what it used to be. When you walk into your bank and see a sign proudly advertising 3-year CDs at 1%, that's when you know it's time to start taking chances. Even crazy ones.
Back on topic, let's assume that things stay bad for five years before they pick up some. I can get 3% risk free right now in the UK (cash investment) and five years of that is (compounded) 16%.
The question is can he get the fund back to it's current value plus 16% in five years?
Because it's not just about how quickly he can start paying into it again, it's about how quickly he can get it back to it's current value (or it's current value plus 16%), so he's got a comparable amount when the interest rates do pick up.
Even if it doesn't pick up and 3% is the new norm, that still compounds over 20 years to doubling it's current value. Is he going to be able to / be willing to make up that money in some other way during that period?
That's all a bit all over the place but the point is that low rates aren't nothing (particularly not when compounded), and even with low returns rebuilding that fund isn't going to be trivial.
