Yet another HT to David Parr for this piece from the Daily Telegraph in the UK.

If you had put £1 in a savings account in 1899 it would be worth £3 now in “real” terms, in other words after allowing for inflation. A £1 investment in the London stock market, by contrast, would have grown to £348, more than 100 times more.Bonds would have fared only slightly better than cash, producing £5 from a £1 investment. Shares have the scope for returns to grow in line with inflation or even exceed it. In an inflationary environment companies can increase their own prices and therefore profits, which will typically boost dividend payments and share prices.