Over any 10 year period investing in the shares of our big 4 banks has produced a better return than any product they’ve offered their customers. In other words, “if you can’t beat em, join em”.

Even today, despite a soft sharemarket, investors in the Big 4 are still doing okay.

In the last 12 months the NAB share price has risen 5.5 per cent, CBA 2.9 per cent, Westpac 0.9 per cent and the ANZ has slipped 0.5 per cent.

But add their dividends and those returns are boosted significantly with NAB leading the way at 12.6 per cent and even ANZ’s return is a respectable 5.7 per cent.

Those dividend yields are a winner. Goldman Sachs reckons NAB is trading on a one-year forward dividend yield of 8.1 per cent, Westpac 7.6 per cent, ANZ 7.3 per cent and CBA 6.8 per cent.