How well are your investments doing?

If you’re planning for your retirement living years, or perhaps for a parent in assisted living, and you have savings, investments, and a financial advisor, you’re probably better off than most people who say they don’t have any plan to handle their money after they stop working.

However, according to a new article, Baby Boomers and seniors should re-think some of their optimism if they think the stock market will help them out in retirement.

According to a recent article on Bloomberg.com, analysts say stock market returns over the last few years have been significantly lower than they were historically, and that people should no longer expect consistent investment results to help pay for retirement costs.

According to the news source, financial analysts say the average annual return for stocks is about 5 to 6 per cent, whereas the average annual return historically was close to 10 per cent.

One way investors can help maximize their investment returns is by trying to find mutual funds and indexes with low management fees.

“In this day and age, there's simply no excuse for paying [an expense ratio of] more than 0.25 percent for a portfolio of U.S. stocks and bonds, and maybe 0.5 percent for a portfolio of foreign stocks,” William Bernstein of Efficient Frontier Advisors, told the media outlet.