Your choice: Earn 11.11% or 3.69% The average managed-investment account returns were 3.69% over the last 30 years according to Dalbar's QAIB recent study. During the same period your returns could have been over 11% if you had chosen a low-cost stock-market-index mutual fund-your $250 monthly deposits would be worth over $700,000 instead of $160,000 in 30 years. Most investors are gamblers-buying a stock or mutual fund AFTER it has shown growth and then selling when the price falls. Buying and selling securities-"trading"-is NOT investing. Every time we buy and sell, it costs us a commission and fees. It costs us the gains the market made overall too. Salespeople make their living on the activity AND market gains. We keep ALL of the market's gains when we let a low-cost fund compound our returns by itself. Your financial sales person may be taking 63% of your possible investment returns. Your employer's retirement plan may be taking over HALF your potential earnings. How much could you have earned in a low-cost stock market mutual fund during the last 20 years, 10 years or 5 years? Calculator: Fidelity just did a study of their client's 401k accounts. Those with over $1 million were long-term contributors. They did not trade and they did not cash out when they changed jobs. They invested for over 30 years. Their patience paid off. How do we build a $1,000,000 account? We invest using the Buffett strategy: Compound high investment earnings. We earn money on the prior earnings of our money. Buffett turned $6,000 from paper routes into $60 billions by holding stocks "forever." Choose 11.11%. Let your money compound. You can set up your low-cost tax-FREE account in 1 hour.