[sneak]

Perhaps they can buy an annuity or something that will bank on 7% average annual over a 20-30 year timespan and guarantee 5% real return each and every year.

[badpun]

If such annuity existed, people wouldn’t put money into index funds :) They have similar or smaller average expectations there, but with no guarantees and with massive volitality.

[aetherson]

Does such a product exist? I would be surprised if it does.

(I played with Schwab's annuity estimator and it basically refused to give me an estimate)

[aetherson]

Now that I'm back in front of a computer instead of a phone, I looked up: https://www.bankrate.com/investing/annuity-calculator/

It suggests that for an annuity with a 2% annual growth (which at least maybe approximates "flat real rate of return,") for 30 years, it'll give you about 3.7%, not 5%.

[ericd]

Pretty sure a guaranteed 5% real return in perpetuity doesn’t exist. My understanding is that annuities are generally very vulnerable to inflation?