The equity risk premium is a key concept in finance that helps determine how much return investors can expect from stocks compared to safer investments like bonds. Despite ongoing research, there is still no simple model that fully explains why stocks offer higher returns. However, it is predicted that in the future, the equity risk premium may be lower than in the past. Even so, investing in U.S. stocks is likely to provide a return of 2-3 percent higher than bonds, rewarding those who are willing to take on the short-term risks of the stock market.