Retirement Planning Associates

In the 1970's, oil stock helped create sky-high inflation that generally made tangible assets a winning investment. Then in the 1980's, low inflation and declining interest rates put many stocks and bonds on top. The 1990's brought a huge bull market followed by a bust. We are now in the longest bull market in over 35 years. We are posied for a pullback, but when is the question. The constant shifting in the rate of return of various asset categories is clearly reflected in the table below, using data supplied from Salomon Brothers. This investment-banking firm compiles an index for each of the 12 different asset categories, ranging from stocks to Chinese ceramics. Salomon Brothers monitors each asset category's performance over time, compounding the rate of return each year.

The rates of return listed are before taxes, and are ranked here against the Consumer Price Index over the past 20, 10, and 5 years. They are not meant to predict future performance.

	20 Year Annual Return	10 Year Annual Return	5 Year Annual Return

Stocks	12.2%	14.8%	15.1%
Bonds	9.8%	13.2 %	13.1%
Stamps	9.6%	(1.7) %	0.5%
3 Mo. T Bills	8.8%	7.3 %	6.6%
Diamonds	8.5 %	5.9 %	4.3%
Oil	7.5 %	(4.7) %	1.7%
Gold	6.9 %	(1.0)%	(4.2)%

Housing	6.7 %	4.4 %	3.7%
Consumer Price Index	6.1 %	3.8%	4.2%
Chinese Ceramics	5.8 %	7.6 %	9.8%
U.S. Farmland	5.4 %	(1.2) %	2.1%
Foreign Exchange	3.4 %	5.6%	1.7%
Silver	2.7 %	(10.1)%	(8.5)%

Sound planning and investment management is required to maintain a diversified investment portfolio that will keep pace with inflation on an after-tax basis. Source: Salomon Brothers 1993.