Cubsfan

Ok, this might be a stupid question (or it may not even make sense, like so many of my other posts ), but...

I've heard from a lot of places, including here, that since the stock market started, the average yearly return has been aroud 10% (I think that's what it is).

What I was wondering is if there's graph somewhere or something of the rolling 40-year average. I'm guessing that the average time from savings start to retirement is about 40 years, so I'll guess that's a good estimate of what people would get over their working-life as a return.

For example, there may possibly be a huge difference between a guy who retired in 1999 and a guy who retired in 2001, so the 10% average may not have held true.

Basically, I guess what I'm asking is whether the overall average really matters as much an idea of 40-year averages.

I look forward to people who actually know what they are talking about tell me why I'm completely wrong