Finally, let's say the market takes a 30 percent dive over the next year. Every time you check your stocks or stock mutual funds, you're going to feel the pain. Likewise, if interest rates rise, your bonds won't let you forget it. But nowhere on your bank or brokerage statement -- or anywhere else, for that matter -- are you likely to get a report on what inflation is doing to the real value of your holdings. So if your money is stowed in a "safe" investment, like a low-yielding savings or money market account, you'll never see how inflation is gobbling up virtually all of your return. Here are some points to bear in mind:

• At an average annual growth rate of 11.4 percent a year, stocks will double your money about every six years. Factor in inflation, which has historically run at about 3.1 percent annually, and it will take closer to ten years to double your actual buying power.

• Likewise, bonds, which have historically grown at 5.1 percent annually, will double your money every 13 1/2 years. After inflation, however, it will take 35 years.

• And talk about risk, if your money is in cash (which is how money market accounts are known in the investment world), you'll have to wait 19 years for the nominal value of your account to double, assuming the cash earns the historical 3.7 percent annual return. But even your grandchildren won't see the real value of your money double. The reason? After inflation, it will take 139 years.

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