Over the past decade, returns from one-year Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs) have been negative after accounting for taxes and inflation. The average annual return on a one-year GIC was less than 1%, while inflation averaged over 2% per year. As a result, investors who kept their money in GICs actually lost purchasing power over the past 10 years. Maintaining a diversified portfolio that includes equities can help protect an investor's purchasing power and allow their wealth to grow over time, as Canadian equities returned over 6% annually during the same period.