Go to any finance website and look at a market chart backwards from today for 10 years.  A "decade" = 10 years.  2017 minus 2009 = 8 years.  You're being a bit unfair.  She's not all that far off from a couch potato.  

But I definitely agree with you that it's never too early to learn about minimizing fees!  It's probably one of the most important investment lessons, no matter what your investment style is.