Many financial planners are reporting what they believe to be excessive and unrealistic expectations by some clients, especially in regards to stock market returns. During the decade of the 1990. s, the average annual compound return of the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 18.4%. On the heels of that performance, a Gallup poll showed that investors younger than forty as a group expect average returns of 22% a year for the first decade of the twenty-first century. Are these expectations indeed too high? A historical perspective may be helpful. If one looks at all rolling ten-year periods since 1928,(ex. 1928-1937, 1929-1938,etc.) through 1999, the DJIA. s returns have exceeded 18% only six times. The average annual return for that entire period has been around 12 %, aided greatly by the returns of the last fifteen years. As a result, most financial planners would advise one to use expected returns from the stock portion of their investments in the 9% to 12% range. Expected returns for the fixed income portion should generally be based upon a lower historical return of 5% to 7%. Having realistic expectations should result in better planning and help reduce the possibility of serious disappointment.