'100% Return' on Stocks in 10 Years?

This headline (Jim Bogle via CNBC)is designed to make the mouth of every red-blooded investor water. But what is easily overlooked iJs that behind this attention-grabbing number is the mundane fact that any holding doubling over a period of ten years would have provided an annualised return of 7 percent. While this is nothing to sneeze at - many investors would give their right arm to be able to achieve this performance - it also is not earth-shattering. Above all it reminds us that just a short period of under - or even negative - performance can make it nearly impossible to achieve this return over a period of ten years as any loss has to be made up before the clock starts ticking again in the investor's favour. So the avoidance of mistakes and maximum discipline in keeping the costs of portfolio management as low as possible should be foremost in investor's minds.