he rate of return that you would get on an alternative investment depends on the level of risk that you are willing to take and how well you pick your investments.

Current investors
If you are currently investing, you probably have sense of the rate of return you expect on your investments. More importantly, you probably know that with most investments, it is very difficult to predict (accurately, anyway) what the rate of return will be 2-10 years from now.

iOwn is dedicated to helping you make intelligent decisions about home ownership, but if you want advice on other investments, you should talk to a professional personal finance advisor. In the mean time, here are some estimates:

If you invest in a money market account or a CD, you can expect annual 4-6 percent return.

Investing in corporate or government bonds should yield between 7-9 percent annually.

Taking a little more short term risk, you might get 10-14 percent annual return over the long term by investing in the stock market or with stock-based mutual funds. But the returns are highly volatile, going up or down by far more than the 10-14% average in any individual year.

Some estimates: