The 1990s was a period of rapid economic growth and a robust stock market that yielded an average annual return of 18.6%!

a. If you started with $1,000 in stocks at the beginning of the decade, and you reinvested the returns you earned every year, calculate the value of your stocks at the end of the decade.

b. Did this high rate of return continue into the 2000s and beyond? Look online at stock charts for the S&P 500 to figure out what happened. Use what you learned in the chapter to explain why.