If the average historical return on a stock market investment is 11%, why doesn’t everyone put their money into stocks rather than into a savings account?
Even though the historical return on a stock market investment is 11%, it is also riskier than a savings account. This is referred to as risk vs. return. The higher the risk an investor is willing to take on, the higher the potential return.
Answer:
When you invest in stocks, there are two ways in which you can make money:
Dividends usually pay less than a savings account.
The price of stocks usually tends to increase over time, but the price of stocks increase or decrease daily. Sometimes the price of a stock can decrease for a relatively long period of time, a few years even. But generally the stock prices will rebound later. That is why investing in the stock market is usually a very good investment on the long run.
The stock market is a risky investment, while savings accounts are usually very secure investments.