Chart: Historical Investment Returns from 1995 to 2009

The chart below shows the historical investment returns for various indices from 1995 thru 2009:

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Some observations:

Since 2003, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index has yielded double-digit returns except in 2008 when it fell 53%.
On 15-year annualized returns basis, the small-cap Russell 2000 Index and the REIT Index have performed better than S&P 500 and the emerging market indices.
The MSCI EAFE Index performed better than S&P 500 in the past few years except in 2008 when it was the second worst performer.