Average returns almost never happen in the markets

It's something you'll hear in your entry level courses in finance or investing: On average, stocks return about 10% per year and bonds return about 5%. Unfortunately, in any given year, average almost never happens. Just get it out of your head. Those averages belie the incredible amount of volatility that has historically occurred and will most likely occur again in the future. Vanguard recently tweeted this scatterplot charting annual stock and bond returns since 1926. The gold bar covers ave...