<prompt> Human: As title says -- I came in late to planning for retirement but with good cause. My wife and I have been married for 10 or more years I lost count and were doing pretty well. We have our own successful small business that she runs with a handful of employees and I work a 9-5, We didnt slack off during our 20s although I could say I could have worked a little harder -- maybe. Since we live in the city, the thought of purchasing a home is unrealistic but understood that owning property is a good idea, so we purchased a vacation home which we use as an income property when we are not there. Now -- the bigger question... what is the realistic return on a 401k? Ive set forth to max out my 401k in 2018 at the full 18.5k. At my current job, there is no employee match which sucks but I am sure down the road, Ill be switching jobs that do. Everything online says that for the lifetime of the 401k, I can expect an 8 to 10 percent return... I thought it would be more. The magic number for me is 55. Lastly, what plansprograms can she take advantage for? I thought about forming a small business 401k for our personal corporation but it seems that it would most likely fail since my employees would not contribute to it.  <response>: Everything online says that for the lifetime of the 401k, I can expect an 8 to 10 percent return... I thought it would be more. Why did you think that? Historically speaking, 8 is a reasonable return but only over a very long timeframe, and only if you stay in stocks. A more wisely balanced portfolio would include more safe assets bonds as you approach retirement, which would lower the rate of return. 