conversation: User (how1212): "I listen to Dave Ramsey a lot and have come to respect his advice on tackling debt, discipline, and keeping a goal in sight.  But I can't for the life of me find out what he's talking about in terms of his investment advice.\n\nIn his show, he assumes a rate of return for mutual fund investing at 12%.  My question is, where in the hell can you find a fund that has a life of return of 12%??  \n\nSo if any of you have followed his advice and have figured out which funds he's talking about, please let me know!  Because I've done a lot of research on this and have found that 90% of funds lose out to their respective index's, let alone net a return of 12%!\n\nAlso, any tips on sites you use to compare/get a list of mutual funds would be helpful so I can look into these numbers myself and continue my analysis.\n\nThanks!"
  Self: "12% is not the number you should plan for. its possible see returns around that rate by simply investing the S&amp;P 500.\n\nAccording to historical records, the average annual return for the S&amp;P 500 since its inception in 1928 through 2014 is approximately 10%. However, that number can be very misleading. If an investor thinks that translates to just putting money in the S&amp;P 500 Index and watching it double about every 10 years, he is likely in for a rather big disappointment. Accurate calculations of average returns, taking all significant factors into account, can be challenging.\n\nThe S&amp;P 500 is a collection of 500 stocks intended to reflect the overall return characteristics of the stock market as a whole. The stocks that make up the S&amp;P 500 are selected by market capitalization, liquidity and industry. Companies to be included in the S&amp;P are selected by the S&amp;P 500 Index Committee, which consists of a group of analysts employed by Standard &amp; Poor's.\n\nhttp://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042415/what-average-annual-return-sp-500.asp#ixzz4bFPcSneb \n\nso this averages out the really good years, with the really bad years. Realistically speaking if, you should plan for a 6-7% return and consider anything above that gravy. "
  