"I would assume that people and investment firms in 2020 will remember the dangers of leverage," said E. William Stone, chief investment strategist with PNC Wealth Management in Philadelphia. "We may have a better appreciation for seemingly hidden risk or the risk of chasing excess returns."
Because investment returns will revive at various times throughout the 2010 decade, there's a chance this could energize investors to chase returns once again, Stone said. The lessons of today may have been forgotten and greed will take over again.
The undeniable staying power of greed has other experts worried.
"By 2020, peoples' tolerance for risk will return," said Lawrence Harris, professor of finance and business economics at USC's Marshall School of Business.
Yet in 2020 you'll find positive differences, such as the greater importance of alternative energy. That means plenty of windmills in the Midwest and oceans, but oil prices "going through the roof," Harris predicted. There will be long-term upward pressure on commodities due to growth in the world population and rising education levels that make people more prosperous, he said.
Experts hope it will become easier to invest in understandable instruments in 2020. Many of today's problems were masked in complex financial vehicles with obscure descriptions. Subprime was only widely understood when it was too late.
"You may see a movement toward simplicity on the part of investors in which complex products are shunned, but that will take a while," Stone said. "A lot of complex financial products currently aren't traded on exchanges, so we may also see a push to have more of them on exchanges where they can be monitored closely."
Global markets will loom large in 2020.
The U.S., Europe, China and India should remain locked in "very, very slow" economic growth for a long period of time, predicted Bittles. Yet even though China, India and Latin America may falter the next couple of years, Harris considers it inevitable their economies will grow.
There will likely be one global system with united goals, as foreshadowed recently by the IMF, rather than 200 independent economies, Brown said. The U.S. will be the biggest driver, but by 2020 a number of emerging economies will also have clout.
For now, expect the rising U.S. dollar and falling foreign securities to continue to give American investors a double dose of financial pain, Bittles said.
Then there is the fear that problems won't be sorted out.
"I see the main danger in the next two or three years that government will interfere more in business, but that is not an effect going out 12 years," Harris said. "I also think U.S. investors may prefer foreign investments in the future because they're sick of what's happening here."