Looking further back, £10,000 invested in the US market 20 years ago would now be worth £106,445 compared to £39,293 if invested in the UK (according to Morningstar total return in GBP to 31 October 2024). Other major markets have done a bit better than the UK, but neither European nor Japanese indices can hold anything resembling a candle to the S&P 500.

If you take the figure of £106,445 and using the 4% rule u could withdraw income of £4,257.80

If you had invested in a dividend compound plan with a blended yield of 6% you would have income of £1,605.00.

The gamble being, will the next 20 years be the same as the

last 20 years ?

One option could be to have a foot in each camp and sleep soundly at night.

Another option would be, if you were lucky enough to have turned 10k into a 100k to buy dividend income Trusts returning 7% plus as opposed to withdrawing your hard earned using the 4% rule.

GL