Nobody ever shows a compound interest chart with anything other than a steady interest rate (aka - 30 years of 10% return = millionaire!). A single negative or

Nobody ever shows a compound interest chart with anything other than a steady interest rate (aka - 30 years of 10% return = millionaire!). A single negative or downturn can have a pretty dramatic effect on those projections. Exactly. NYTimes had an interesting visualization a few years ago that tracked the S&P 500 to show real-world results. It really shows the effect that doldrum years can have on returns: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/01/02/business/20110102-metrics-graphic.html?ref=business&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/01/02/business/20110...