Although stock prices do plummet, as they did so disastrously in the early 2000s and in 2007, the overall return during the entire twentieth century was about 9 percent per year, including both dividends and capital gains. At their prices in 2014, I believe that a portfolio of domestic common stocks will have a 6 to 7 percent return, reasonably close to the annual rates of return during the twentieth century but somewhat lower. Comparable returns are likely from the major companies in developed foreign markets.
