I'm a cautious investor

My mother bought a significant amount of Amazon stock back in 1997 when it was $18 per share. She has seen a windfall of money just on that stock alone. I just started investing in 2021 & it has been hard for me to justify putting any more money into the stock market because I've seen nothing but major losses in 2022. I invested in Apple at 178, in VOO etf at 445. I've lost $1000s of dollars of hard earned money. I wanted to invest in stocks and etfs that "experts" said have an ability to earn me average returns of 15 percent per year. I need a nest egg for retirement and I thought stock investing was the answer. I'm pretty discouraged, but I'm trying to stay optimistic and hope for the best in the future. I didn't sell any of my shares as the market has tanked over the past year