What are long term investment return averages? What should I expect?

Long-term US market return averages over many decades are approximately as follows:

10%: Stock Market

6%: Long-Term Gov’t Bonds

3%: Inflation

Some economists, however, believe that the next 50 years will have somewhat lower returns than the long-term averages, but potentially with approximately commensurate lower inflation, which means that after-inflation returns may remain similar. WealthStep uses a combination of econometric forecasting and historical averages to incorporate reasonable return and risk projections into the investment advice module (see other FAQ’s for additional information). The returns above are not a prediction of future returns, and are provided for approximate historical and education purposes. If your portfolio was not built by WealthStep, please go directly to the fund company’s website for specific investment information. Similarly, to the extent that non-WealthStep portfolio asset allocations vary from WealthStep portfolios, the expected returns may also vary.

Data above represents 1/1/27 through 12/31/15. Averages through more current dates are approximately similar.