For the shorter term, you'd probably get 10%/year from the emerging markets - there are plenty of funds, including ETF with very low fees, that invest in popular areas such as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China), more diversified Latin America, Asia/Pacific excluding Japan and Eastern Europe. There are also funds that allow you to invest further off the beaten track - smaller European countries (e.g. Sweden, Austria), South Africa, Chile, etc. If you're going to go for something off the mainstream, then FFS make sure you know what you're getting into.
The risk with emerging markets is that they are highly volatile, and highly sensitive to political events as well as having a degree of correlation to the general health of the US market. That said, the economies there have considerable room for growth (unlike, say, Dow Jones companies). Many of these areas are also rich in natural resources (particularly latin America/BRIC), so if you think that prices of oil, gas, coal, steel, copper and other minerals are going to go up - then you have exposure there.
Of course, emerging markets are high risk, so you need to take appropriate mitigation strategies - e.g. no more than 5-10% of your investment in these regions (unless you want to take a particularly aggressive approach).
Remember the best way to manage risk is to diversify - choose as many uncorrelated investments as you feel happy with (and which don't crush you with fees)
E.g. A simple aggressive portfolio might be as follows
35% Russell 3000 index tracker
15% S&P Euro 350 tracker
10% BRIC fund
10% Corporate bond fund
20% cash
You can try and pick individual stocks, and you can get exceptionally good returns there. However, there is a reason why, if you go to a fund manager they will buy 50 or more different stocks, not just 10. That reason is risk - where there is potential upside, there is risk. Even if you picked stocks at random, however, on average, your returns would on average reflect the return of the stock market. The difference is whether your particular bet paid off. If it does, you make a big profit, if it fails, you lose a big chunk of you portfolio. Even expert fund managers, who do nothing all day except research stocks, don't do much better than picking stocks at random (at least once they've taken their fees), so what chance has the little guy who picks 10 stocks?
You may feel that your risk profile is OK with that, in which case, good luck to you. I've done the same, but I already have a broader portfolio containing the bulk of my investments. If you don't fancy your chances as a betting man, then a diversified tracker fund will allow you simply to ride the market.
Don't forget that international investing can help with diversification - it provides an alternative stockmarket which is driven by slightly different forces, and where the money is invested in a different currency. If you fear US$ devaulation, then this may be an effective hedge. Over the last 12 months, the Russell 3000 has shown an 8% fall, as have European markets, but because of dollar devaluation against the Euro, in $ terms, the Euro market is even (excluding dividend income).
How do y'all invest your money?
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