Quote from: inBitweTrust on January 19, 2015, 12:52:44 AM

Quote from: pr472 on January 18, 2015, 10:52:36 PM

I've been invested in the stock market for 20+ years. When I started, the market was at 6,000. Now the market is at 17,000+, so the stock market has been very good to me. But the most important thing about the stock market is that it is a long term investment. You don't go into the market for months; you go into it for years, and if you do, you will make money.
Fees are pretty low, in my opinion. It is best to get help with your investment--I have Wells Fargo Advisors and it has been excellent.

Did your average yearly returns over 20 years outpace inflation? (To calculate inflation use the CPI formula that accurately reports food /fuel and healthcare and not the FUD they normally propagandize- 5-10% compounded annually per year should need to be beat)

I would say that even 5% inflation would be vastly exaggerated. Historically inflation has averaged ~3% and that counts higher then average inflation during the oil crisis.

Over most standardized measures of time, the stock market has outpaced inflation by roughly 7% per year. In other words you would grow your purchasing power by as much every year (on average).

In order to have produced these kinds of results you would have needed to invest in a very broad range of investments