Investing returns

Student_of_£

Hello!
I should be starting to invest in the next few years (after sorting en emergency fund) with a timeframe of 35 years. I was wondering what are the average returns from investing and is it possible to create a portfolio which gives an 8% return per year? What is the highest return one can achieve/expect?
Thanks

TonyMMM

8% income, 8% capital growth or a combination of the two ?

dunstonh

I was wondering what are the average returns from investing and is it possible to create a portfolio which gives an 8% return per year?

Over 35 years then that long term average is certainly reasonable with medium high risk or higher investments. You would be pushing it with medium risk or lower though.

What is the highest return one can achieve/expect?

In a 35 year period it is impossible to predict. in 1945, could anyone have predicted what things would be like in 1980. In 1980, could anyone (who had not experienced it) think what life was like in 1945. I look back 35 years and see nearly everyone is better off in lifestyle to back then. However, the last 35 years have been funded on easy credit. What will the next 35 years be like. Were the post war years a general boom period due to rebuilding and increased population rather than that being the norm? Was the US the emerging economy of the 1900s which saw its growth high for that reason rather than being the norm?

If you want to look at discrete performance on any given 12 month period then you would say +/- 40%. Then as time goes on you get closer to the long term average as you average each year out.