General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Do you have 1 million saved for retirement? May not be enough. [View all]FreeJoe
(1,039 posts)I was just talking about rates of return and savings amounts required to get to $1,000,000 over 45 years. How you get those rates of return is an entirely different subject.
Historically, you would have gotten an 8% return in the stock market over most of the 45 year periods in the last century. That's definitely not a guarantee that you will in the future. You almost certainly wouldn't (I hope) have been fully invested in stocks during the entire time because a crash at the end could significantly alter your retirement.
Bonds would have gotten you at least 4% in most of the 45 year periods in the last century. That would have been safer than stocks, but your return would have been lower...more steady, but lower. Of course, you could have invested or speculated in lots of other things like savings accounts, real estate, commodities, etc. Each has its own risk and reward profile.