Hi everyone, today I want to share why your investments should produce at least a 10% average annual return.

Between the investors that think “It’s impossible” and the (crypto) investors that say “I make 10% in one day”, I think it’s time to make some clarity on the topic why this is the right benchmark for us.

If you are investing and earning less than that, I highly recommend you read through this article to understand how you can earn 10% per year and what mistakes to avoid.

Let’s start from the most important lesson any investor needs to learn:

You can make 10% per year, but you won’t make 10% every year

“Oh great Vittorio, you are already saying some non sense quote”

Stay with me, I will explain myself.

The stock market is unpredictable in the short term.

There are just too many clashing factors that makes it impossible for a steady and gradual return.

So here are the 3 key takeaway you need to write down and read every morning:

1. The average return over the last 40 years has been 10.80%
2. Each year the return can vary immensely
3. The only way to reap the rewards is to stay invested

Let’s deep dive in each:

1. The average return over the last 40 years has been 10.80%

If 40 years ago you invested in the global stock market, you would have gained on average 10.80%.

When you hear someone say: “My bank told me I should be happy with 1% per year”, please show them this graph. Please.

If you invested €10,000 and never added one more cent, after 40 years you would have close to €900,000.

2. Each year the return can vary immensely

I can hear you already…

“Vittorio, if it was so easy everybody would be investing in the global stock market”

Well, the problem is that we talked about AVERAGE returns.

In the short term, the stock market can behave in very bizarre and irrational ways.

So you can have some years in which you gain +46.4% (1999), while in other years you can wipe out almost half of your wealth, like in 2008, which return was -37.0%.

3. The only way to reap the rewards is to stay invested

There is no free lunch.

This is why I disagree when I hear that with investing you can make “free” money.

It’s not true.

The stock market return is your reward to sustain continuous changes on your portfolio.

It’s the reward to wait, wait and wait more to see your wealth compounding.

But this is also the only way to actually make it.

Stick to your investment plan, setup the right investment rules and you will be fine.

As Peter Lynch said…

It’s all about compounding.

TL;DR

• As the stock market grows on average by 10% per year, you should at least gain this amount
• You should never accept an investment that promises lower returns, unless you are looking for less volatility (e.g.: bonds)
• If you improve your strategy by adding the right individual stocks and crypto, you should aim even for returns higher than 10%.

Hope you enjoyed.