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					Originally Posted by V  Is this accurate?  The TSX is up an annual return of 6.1% since July 1979, and that's without taking inflation into account.  So what's that, 3% if you consider inflation?  
 Kind of makes me want to just pay off my mortgage instead of taking the risk.
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8% was the "rule of thumb" rate we used back when I took my finance degree and would have been the S&P500, not the TSX.
Using your July 1979 date, 
this link shows an annualized S&P return of 7.9% when indexed for inflation with dividends reinvested.
That's the S&P but your numbers still seem low for the TSX.   I suspect 6.1% does not include dividend reinvestment.   If you look up the TSE total return index that will show you the impact of reinvesting dividends.