"As shown, Australian shares have outperformed all asset classes over the past 20 years, with an average annual return of 9.8% (including dividends but not franking credits). As the average dividend yield of the index is around 4%, investment in high yielding stocks such as Telstra (TLS.AX) or any of the big four banks may improve the return."
"While all Foolish investors will know that past performance is not a guarantee of future performance, the historical numbers over a reasonably long period of 20 years show that an investment in shares would have outperformed all other asset classes over that time."
