I check my 401K literally all the time.
The DUmmies are correct that the S&P 500 is up about 15% YTY (today it's at 4500) That is not saying much though because a year ago it was at 3960 but a year before that Dec 1 2021 was at 4705 So it is still got another 7% to get back to it's high of 2 years ago. I personally don't know any investors who are happy right now and those that follow the market are suffering from whiplash watching the Dow day to day. For me personally I'm putting quite a bit of money into a high yield savings account building up cash so that when the market corrects which it's going to do, I will be able to buy. But as far as retiring now, forget it. I'm currently maxing out my 401K $30K per year, and doing that for at least the next 5 years Lord willing.
I have a decent amount in a Fidelity S&P 500 index fund (FXAIX) and still contributing at a regular pace. This week the market has been fairly strong but I don't know of any reason to celebrate. In the overall economy, the problem is not so much the stock market but the bond market that has been inverted (short term vs long term) for over a year now. The treasury has to borrow money to pay off maturing bonds at 7-8% interest rates. This is a problem. And no one wants to buy 10 year notes at 2%.
I think the fed is going to lower interest rates based on crap data showing that inflation is under control, which it is not. The amount of debt (individual, corporate and government) is at insane rates. If the economy burps it's all over. Families are so overextended now it's not even funny.
A really good question to ask is why are the DUmmies bringing this up now. Yes the market is up but it's not where it was, and most of these mutts are living paycheck to paycheck and have no skin in the game. Well the reason is simple, 44 million student loan borrowers are now having to make payments after a 3 1/2 year pause, car loans and credit card payment delinquency is moving up and homes are way too expensive to buy. We are drowning in personal debt and living on the edge of financial colapse but there is an election in a year,