Diversified Portfolio – Can You Expect Your Money To Double In 10 Years?

Diversified Portfolio - Can You Expect Your Money To Double In 10 Years? by Luke F. Delorme, Director of Financial Planning, American Investment Services, Inc - AIER

Sometimes when I do a back-of-the-napkin estimate about how much I’ll have saved in the future, I’ll use a handy formula known as the “rule of 72.” This rule says that if you divide 72 by your rate of return, the resulting number is roughly how many years it will take your money to double.

For example, if I expect returns of 7 percent a year, I would expect my money to double in about 10 years (72 / 7 = 10.3 years).

I was recently talking to an adviser who made a...