.  :-) I find it difficult to believe that either of you got out of the single digits, unless your wives are simply trying to make you feel better!  

IMO, direct real estate investing is too much work to only get a 10% return and many investors can get low double digit (or more) returns investing passively (or can just invest in passive asset classes outside of real estate).

I invest in notes with mine and can make double digit returns with far more safety than the stock market offers.