4 ms·

The S&P 500 returned 12.25% last year. Unless you're throwing money away, you have to count dividends, too. https://dqydj.com/2016-sp-500-return/ https://dqyd

• obstinate 10y ago
  The number you're quoting is pre-inflation adjustment, I think? Or maybe I used the wrong endpoints. I used the calculator on that site [1], with the setting being from December '15 to December '16 since I'm not sure what moment in January '17 they measured. If I go Jan '16 to Jan '17, then we end up with 17.952%, which doesn't sound right. [1]: https://dqydj.com/sp-500-return-calculator/ https://dqydj.com/sp-500-return-calculator/
  • zeroer 10y ago
    You're right -- 12.25 is nominal, not inflation-adjusted. But inflation was in the range of 1.5-2%, so even adjusted for inflation, the real return exceeds 10% any way to slice it. I'm not sure what your calculator is measuring -- the date selection has a precision of one month. But swings of 5% in a month are common, so I would not immediately discount the idea that there are endpoint dates you could choose to get a 17% return.