One of the main reasons new investors lose money is that they chase after wild rates of return, whether they are buying stocks, bonds, mutual funds,real estate, or some other asset class. That may be because most people don’t understand how compounding works. Every percentage increase in profit each year could mean huge increases in your wealth over time.
To provide a starkillustration, $10,000 invested at 10% for 100 years could turn into $137.8 million. The same $10,000 invested at twice the rate of return, 20%, does not merely double the outcome; it turns it into $828.2 billion. It may seem strange that the difference between a 10% return on investment (ROI) and a 20% return is 6,010 times as much money, but it's the nature of compound growth. A further example is shown in the chart below.
What Is a Good Rate of Return?
Before we can determine what would be a good rate of return, we have to think about inflation, which decreases the value of currency over time. Prices go up. You'd need more money in the future just to buy the same amount of goods for a certain amount today.
Many people who invest do so to increase their buying power. That is, they don’t care about “dollars” or “yen” per se, they care about how much they can buy with that money.
When we look through the data, we see that the rate of return varies by asset types:
Gold
For the most part, gold hasn’t gained much in real value over the long term.Instead, it is merely a store of value that keeps its buying power. Decade by decade, though, the value of gold changes often, going from huge highs to extreme lows over just a few years.
Note
These frequent changes in rate of return make it far from a safe place to store money you may need in the next few years.
Cash
Money, or fiat currencies, can depreciate in value over time. Burying cash in coffee cans in your yard is a terrible long-term plan. If it manages to survive the weather, it will still be worth less, given enough time.
Bonds
From 1926 through 2018, the average annual return for bonds was 5.3.%. The more risk a bond carries, the higher the return investors demand.
Stocks
Since 1926, the average annual return for stocks has been 10.1%. The riskier the business, the higher the return investors demand.
Real Estate
Without using any debt, real estate return demands mirror those of business ownership and stocks. We have gone through decades of about 3% inflation over the past 30 years.
Projects with more risk may result in higher rates of return. Real estate investors are known for using mortgages, which are a form of leverage, to increase the return on their investment.
Note
The present low-interest-rate landscape has resulted in some big changes in recent years, with people accepting real estate returns that are far below what many long-term investors might consider reasonable.
Keep Your Hopes In Check
If you're a new investor and expect to earn 15% or 20% compounded returns on your blue-chip stock holdings over decades, you expect too much. It's not going to happen. That might sound harsh, but you need to know it. Anyone who says you'll get returns like that is taking advantage of your greed and lack of experience. Basing your portfolio on bad assumptions means that you will either do something reckless, like pick risky assets, or retire with much less money than you thought. Neither is a good outcome. So, keep your hopes in check, and you should have a much less stressful time investing.
Talking about a "good" return can be complex for new investors. That's because these results—which are not guaranteed to be repeated—were not smooth, upward rises. If you are invested in stocks, you periodically see huge drops in value. Many of these drops last for years. It's the nature of free-market capitalism. But over the long term, the rates above are the rates of return that investors have historically seen.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How do you get a 20% return on your investment?
A 20% return is possible, but it's a pretty significant return, so you either need to take risks on volatile investments or spend more time invested in safer investments. Some stocks do earn 20% within a year or less, but if you don't trade those kinds of stocks correctly, that volatility could result in 20% losses rather than gains. Relatively safer investments may see less volatility in an average year, but if you have a long enough timeline, you have the potential to earn that 20% return eventually.
When do investors expect a higher rate of return on their investments?
The more risk associated with an investment, the higher returns the investor will expect. If the potential returns of two investments are identical, and one has less risk, then investors will choose the less risky investment. As investments get riskier, they must offer the potential for higher returns, or else they won't attract investors.
FAQs
General ROI: A positive ROI is generally considered good, with a normal ROI of 5-7% often seen as a reasonable expectation. However, a strong general ROI is something greater than 10%. Return on Stocks: On average, a ROI of 7% after inflation is often considered good, based on the historical returns of the market.
Is a 7% return realistic? ›
Even the 10% estimate doesn't include inflation, which has averaged about 3% a year, further reducing the historical return closer to 7%. Tack on things like fees and taxes, and even 7% is probably a relatively high long-term return assumption for a portfolio, especially based on market forecasts today.
What is a good return on an investment fund? ›
Most investors would view an average annual rate of return of 10% or more as a good ROI for long-term investments in the stock market. However, keep in mind that this is an average. Some years will deliver lower returns -- perhaps even negative returns.
Is 10% return on investment realistic? ›
Usually the implication is that they can expect, over a long time, a 10% return. Fortunately some ask, with some doubt, "Is a 10% return really reasonable?" It is not. While the average growth or return in the market (e.g., the S&P 500) is about 10%*, investors over time do not see that.
Is an 8% return realistic? ›
As a result, the 8% rate of return is a surface-level indicator of the investment's performance. In an environment with high inflation and taxes, your real return could be next to nothing. That said, investments can still be an excellent source of retirement income.
How much is $100 a month invested from 25 to 65? ›
$1,176,000. You do NOT have to retire broke.
How much do I need to invest to make $1000 a month? ›
A stock portfolio focused on dividends can generate $1,000 per month or more in perpetual passive income, Mircea Iosif wrote on Medium. “For example, at a 4% dividend yield, you would need a portfolio worth $300,000.
What will 100k be worth in 30 years? ›
Answer and Explanation: The amount of $100,000 will grow to $432,194.24 after 30 years at a 5% annual return. The amount of $100,000 will grow to $1,006,265.69 after 30 years at an 8% annual return.
What is a good return on investment? ›
General ROI: A positive ROI is generally considered good, with a normal ROI of 5-7% often seen as a reasonable expectation. However, a strong general ROI is something greater than 10%. Return on Stocks: On average, a ROI of 7% after inflation is often considered good, based on the historical returns of the market.
How much money do I need to invest to make $3,000 a month? ›
Imagine you wish to amass $3000 monthly from your investments, amounting to $36,000 annually. If you park your funds in a savings account offering a 2% annual interest rate, you'd need to inject roughly $1.8 million into the account.
$10,000 is enough to give you access to many investment options. Here are the best options for investing $10,000 through your brokerage, IRA or 401(k) account. Arielle O'Shea leads the investing and taxes team at NerdWallet.
Is 30% return possible? ›
While achieving such returns might seem feasible on paper, several fundamental factors render it an impractical and potentially perilous pursuit. Even the most complex mathematical algorithms designed by Wall Street wizards have not been able to achieve these consecutive returns.
What is the 4% rule in retirement? ›
The 4% rule limits annual withdrawals from your retirement accounts to 4% of the total balance in your first year of retirement. That means if you retire with $1 million saved, you'd take out $40,000. According to the rule, this amount is safe enough that you won't risk running out of money during a 30-year retirement.
What is the average 401k return for 20 years? ›
What is the typical 401(k) return over 20 years? The typical return for 401(k)s over 20 years is between 5% and 8%, assuming a portfolio sticks to an asset mix of roughly 60% stocks and 40% bonds. There's also no guarantee that returns will fall within that range.
Is 7 percent a good rate of return? ›
Return on Stocks: On average, a ROI of 7% after inflation is often considered good, based on the historical returns of the market. Return on Bonds: For bonds, a good ROI is typically around 4-6%.
Is a 7 annual return good? ›
A good return on investment is generally considered to be around 7% per year, based on the average historic return of the S&P 500 index, adjusted for inflation. The average return of the U.S. stock market is around 10% per year, adjusted for inflation, dating back to the late 1920s.
Is 7 ROI good for real estate? ›
A “good” ROI is highly subjective because it largely depends on how risk-tolerant a particular investor is. But as a rule of thumb, most real estate investors aim for ROIs above 10%.
What is a realistic rate of return? ›
Generally speaking, if you're estimating how much your stock-market investment will return over time, we suggest using an average annual return of 6% and understanding that you'll experience down years as well as up years.
