A lot of people get antsy leaving their money in savings accounts. They act as if there is some kind of moral imperative to seek out higher returns. Just remember though, you would have done better leaving your money in a good savings account over the last 10 years then you would have done by investing that money in the stock market. From a comment on Calculated Risk from Average Joe……

10 years ago today the S&P500 was at 1157

Today it’s at 1263.

That my friends is a .87% return. If you add in dividends, you’re up to a 2.7% average annual return.

This is before we even get into the bubble years of 99 and 2000. The ten year window of positive returns in closing fast.

(Note: this is lump sum, all-in investing returns…not the horrendous dollar-cost-averaging returns you get by buying through the dotcom era and last summer as the stocks stayed significantly above the trendline for much longer than it was below during this decade)

Never invest any money in the stock market that you think you will need in the foreseeable future. And never invest in anything that you don’t understand for yourself. If you can’t explain why you think a stock might have a good return using actual numbers, don’t buy.