Average rate of return is 7% accounting for inflation, actually. That assumes you're doing dividend reinvestment and such. Vanguard's predictions of 3-4% over

Average rate of return is 7% accounting for inflation, actually. That assumes you're doing dividend reinvestment and such. Vanguard's predictions of 3-4% over the next decade mean that if you do a straight dollar calculation you'd be closer to ~7%, because that 3-4% number includes inflation, once again.