Let us look at what kinds of returns these two main sources of investments have given over the past 40 years.
In equity, the track record of Sensex is shown in Figure 1.1. When we look at it annually, the return varies between 82.1% and −52.5%. When we see it on a rolling2 5-year basis, it varies between 43.1% and −1.8%. And when we see the rolling 10-year return, then it varies between 23.5% and 2.6%. The average return is 17.8%.