At a time horizon of a decade or two, the past performance of stocks and bonds is neither a reliable guarantee nor a good guide to future results. Periods like 1998-2008, in which stocks do relatively badly, are preceded by periods – like 1978-1988 and 1988-1998 – in which they do relatively well, and are in all likelihood followed by similar periods.
答案几乎必然是否定的。在十年或二十年的时间段中，股票和债券在过去的表现既不是一种可靠的保证也不是对未来结果的指南。在股票相对表现欠佳的1998-2008年之前是股票表现相对较好的1978-1988年和1988-1998年两个时期。而且当时看来它们之后的十年这种好的趋势很可能会持续。