Vanguard founder Jack Bogle says he doesn’t think the “cult of equities” is dead, but has a slightly below-average outlook for stocks.

“If the culture of equities is dead, it’s much more likely to indicate a great buying opportunity more than anything else,” Bogle tells CNBC in reference to Bill Gross’s claim about the “cult of equities” being dead, though Bogle doesn’t see a great buying opportunity right now. “I see a normal equity outlook with slightly lower returns, and not many places to hide, especially in the bond market,” he says. He sees stocks returning about 7% per year over the next decade, with dividend yield being about 2% and earnings growth about 5%. He doesn’t think the market price/earnings ratio will rise or fall too much in that period.

But while Bogle doesn’t see a great buying opportunity, he adds that investors shouldn’t avoid stocks. “You can’t stand back, you can’t stay out” of the markets because of uncertainty in the world, he says. “The answer for most investors is intelligent asset allocation between stocks and bonds with a little less emphasis on Treasurys.”