Despite the 2000-2002 bear market, stocks still have been the best choice for long-term investors. Here is how various investments have performed from the beginning of 1926 through 2003, according to Ibbotson Associates, Chicago:
Large-company stocks (S&P 500): 10.4 percent per year
Small-company stocks (the smallest 20 percent of all companies, by stock market value): 12.7 percent per year
Long-term government bonds: 5.4 percent per year
Cash equivalents (30-day Treasury bills): 3.8 percent per year
Inflation averaged 3.0 percent per year, for that 78-year period.
