This is our final New Year encore episode before we're back into the swing of things next week, and this one was a personal favourite of ours! Between 1900 and today, US shares have returned 9.8 per cent per annum (including dividends). That means an investor has, on average, doubled their money every 7.4 years. That’s a recipe for wealth generation, and an excellent way to ensure your capital grows more than inflation (which has been three per cent per annum over that entire period) and your purchasing power is maintained. However, what’s equally interesting is to consider the typical return in any given calendar year. We did that, and the results surprised us!