Historical Investment Returns Calculator

Compare historical stock, commodity, real estate, and fixed income returns.
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Data updated through year-end 2023 as noted below. The U.S. markets did well in 2023. Gold closed above $2,000 an ounce for the first time. Wheat was the big loser. Interesting trivia: For all the angst about interest rates, the U.S. 10-year Treasury closed as exactly the same level in 2023 as it did in 2022 - 3.88%.

You can use this Historical Investment Calculator to compare investment returns for multiple asset classes. The calculator includes historical price data for 14 popular indices with some prices going back over 100 years. The calculator will compare nominal returns or inflation-adjusted returns. Inflation adjustments are made using U.S. Consumer Price Index data.

Why look at historical investment returns?

Historical Investment Calculator
Historical Investment Calculator

Calculate and compare return-on-investment using 15 stock, bond, real estate & commodity indices.

  • Invest single amount or series
  • Adjust for inflation
  • Compare: stocks, bonds, commodities, housing
  • A great research and learning tool

The answer is not what you may think.

A category of traders known as chartists, use historical stock returns and charts to predict future price movements.

While you could perhaps use this historical returns calculator to assist with predications, there are certainly better tools you should use.

Rather than being a tool for traders, this historical investment calculator is a tool for long term investors. It is designed to give the user a 30,000-foot view of investing. I created it particularly for:

  • the millennial generation (to which my three children belong) and Gen Z, and
  • bloggers, parents, or anyone who wants to teach or learn about the benefits of long term investing.

According to an Ally Financial survey as quoted by Andrea Coombes in Forbes 66% of people aged 18 to 29 (and 65% of those 30 to 39) say investing in the stock market is scary or intimidating.

That's because, I believe, the Millennials and Gen Z do not have enough life experience to take the long view. They were starting to come of age when the Great Recession hit. Many saw first hand the impact it had on their parent's finances. Some saw their college fund go poof. Others saw their parents or their neighbors lose their home. Some saw both.

Recessions can unquestionably be scary things to live through.

But take a look at what this calculator teaches us. Recessions are but blips for the investor. In fact, we can look at history and see that not investing should make us more scared than investing.

Long term investing, it turns out, is pretty dull. Before starting the coding for this calculator a few months ago, I had been thinking about its design and what it might teach us.

I assumed that we would learn that one particular investment is better than another investment if interest rates are rising.

Or that a different investment would be warranted if rates were falling.

While that may be true over the short to medium term, the Historical Investment Calculator demonstrates (I think conclusively) that the practice of investing is what is essential for security and prosperity. That is, investing itself, and not so much what you invest in, determines one's future. More below

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Updated for 2024

  • Feb. 28, 2024: Updated year end values for U.S. CPI index and Case-Shiller.
  • Jan. 2, 2024: Indices & rates are current through December 2023 except the Case-Shiller Index and U.S. CPI which are current throught Nov. 2023 and Oct. 2023 respectively. CPI and Case-Shiller will be updated once the index owners publish the data.

Using the Historical Returns Calculator

The user can compare investment returns for similar or different asset classes.

Pick any three indices from a total of 13, or, as a proxy for cash, select the 3-Month US T-Bill. There are nine equity stock market indices from which to pick. Plus there are two commodity indices (gold, wheat), one real estate index (Case-Shiller) and one fixed income index (ICE's Bank of America US Corporate AAA Index).

I have included the year-end closing value for all indices going as far back as possible. Each index originated at different times. Thus the year for which an analysis can start varies from index to index. For some, such as the DAX 30 or the Shanghai Composite, data is not available before 1991. On the other extreme, the Dow Jones Industrial Average data goes back to 1915. Here's the initial year for all indices:

Investment Choices
IndexEarliest Data
Cash - US 3-Month T-Bill Proxy1933
BOVESPA Index1994
CAC 40 Index1991
Case-Shiller Index1915
DAX 30 Index1991
Dow Jones Industrial Average1915
FTSE 100 - Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index1969
Gold - Fixing Price 10:30 A.M. (London time)1968
Hang Seng Composite Index1987
ICE BofAML US Corporate AAA Index1988
Nasdaq Index1972
Nikkei 2251950
S&P 500 Index1928
Shanghai Composite Index1991
Wheat Prices1960

As mentioned, you can compare the returns for up to 3 assets at a time. The calculator places few restrictions on what a user can do. However, it probably does not make much sense to do a comparative analysis that starts before the first data of the index with the least amount of data points (years).

For example, the calculator will let you compare the return on the Dow with that of gold from 1915 to 2023, but why would you? If you are calculating absolute returns, that will give the Dow an unfair advantage since the calculator does not know the price of gold before year-end 1968.

Two investment modes

The calculator supports either a repeated series of investments (the default) or a single investment. When you select "No" for "One-time investment", the calculator assumes a repeated investment as of the last day of each year.

For example, the "No" selection allows you to answer this question:

What would have been my annualized return-on-investment (ROI) and my investment's final value had I invested $5,000 each year in gold between 2003 and 2023? (6.8%)

On the other hand, the "Yes" selection allows you to answer this question:

What would have been my ROI and the investment's final value had I made a one-time $10,000 investment in AAA corporate bonds in 1993 and then sold them in 2023? ($29,126)

Adjust for inflation

There are nominal returns, and then there are real returns.

Accurate Investment Calculator™
Accurate Investment Calculator

Investment income calculator solves for multiple unknowns and creates printable investment and income schedules.

  • Optionally considers inflation, taxes and/or fees
  • Calculates what's required to reach a goal
  • Create either investment(+) or income(-) schedules
  • Export schedules to XLSX/DOCX files

By default, the calculator shows nominal returns, i.e., not adjusted for inflation. It is more fun to look at nominal returns. Nominal returns show the gross profit. Buy something for $1,000 and sell it three years later for $1,350, the nominal gain is $350.

But nominal returns do not represent real-world results. They do not account for the inflation tax. Therefore, it is better to evaluate real performance, i.e., inflation-adjusted returns. The Historical Investment Returns Calculator has an option for an inflation-adjusted calculation.

The calculator adjusts for inflation using the U.S. Consumer Price Index's year-over-year (December to December) rate of change. If the investment index had a nominal increase of 5.5% between two years while the CPI increased by 2%, the calculator would show a real investment gain of 3.5%.

Further, the last year selected is always the base year from where the inflation calculation starts. That is, if you choose a date range from 2012 to 2022, then the year 2022 is the base year. That means, $1 equals $1. There is no adjustment for the final year.

There is a practical benefit for making the final year of the date range the base year. Everyone has a better understanding of the value of the dollar the closer a year is to the present. We know what the dollar was able to buy in 2022. And the net result is, due to inflation, the dollar buys LESS in the initial and subsequent years than it would have when there is no adjustment.

Let's look at an example to make this clear.

First, without an adjustment for inflation, if you had made a one-time investment of $10,000 in the S&P 500 at the end of 2012, it would be valued at nearly $27,000 ($17,000 gain) as of the end of 2022. The annualized rate-of-return is 10.4%.

S&P Nominal 10-year return
Fig.1 - S&P nominal 10-year return from 2012-2022.

Twenty-seven thousand dollars is the numerical value of the investment. But, as we have discussed, the dollar in 2022 does not have the same purchasing power as in 2012.

Therefore, we adjust for inflation.

Once we do that, the market value drops from just under $27,000 to about $21,000.

What does this mean?

S&P Real 10-year return
Fig.2 - S&P real (inflation adjusted) 10-year return from 2012-2022.
Retirement Calculator
Retirement Calculator

Unique Retirement Calculator shows pre-retirement investing and post-retirement income in one schedule. Also optionally considers:

  • Social Security, Pensions
  • Inflation
  • Change assumptions for pre and post-retirement
  • Export analysis to XLSX/DOCX files

It means the gain on the investment will purchase about $13,500 of new stuff and not $17,700. The difference of about $4,200 is the amount required to stay even with inflation, or $14,200 ($10,000 + $4,200) will buy the same basket of goods in 2022 as what $10,000 bought in 2012.

Or to state it another way, the real investment gain (or real new purchasing power) is 13,500, not $17,700 or expressed as a ROR, 8.9%.

The Historical Chart and the Logarithmic Scale

A chart drawn on a logarithmic scale, gives a more accurate visual indication of relative performance. Below are two examples.

Look at figure 3 and the green Nasdaq line. From the initial investment of $10,000 until the time it is valued at $100,000 represents a 10-fold increase in value. Yet, the change is barely visible in the chart.

Now move to the right. Look at the change in value starting in about 2016, when our investment in the Nasdaq is worth approximately $1,000,000 until the value is amount $1,500,000. The move is only a 50% change in value, but the chart represents it as a significant move.

Historical returns for Nasdaq, bonds and gold
Fig.3 - 30-year returns for the Nasdaq, ICE's Bank of America US Corporate AAA Index, and gold.
Non-Logarithmic Scale

Now, look at the same Nasdaq investment in the chart in Figure 4. This chart uses a logarithmic scale, and it gives the investor a much more accurate representation of the investment return.

The chart clearly shows the first 10x gain to $100,000. The 1.5x gain starting around 2016 is barely noticeable.

Historical returns for Nasdaq, bonds and gold
Fig.4 - 30-year returns for the Nasdaq, ICE's Bank of America US Corporate AAA Index, and gold.
Logarithmic Scale

If you want to learn more about charting using a logarithmic scale, see Naomi Robbins' column on forbes.com, When Should I Use Logarithmic Scales in My Charts and Graphs?

Real Estate is a Particular Case

Do you own a home?

Would you like to know if your home's value has kept up with real estate values in the U.S.?

The Historical Investment Returns Calculator includes year-end values for S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index. You can, therefore, assess your home's change in value relative to the real estate industry's commonly used price index.

To do this, you'll need to enter the price of your home as the amount invested and select the one-time investment option.

If your home's current value is equal to the ending value, then your home's value has mirrored the Case-Shiller national average.

However, the annualized rate-of-return (ROR) shown will not be your property's ROR if you have a mortgage. Your mortgage payments include interest charges which this calculator does not consider.

If you want a more thorough analysis of your real estate investment including your ROR, then see my Mortgage Calculator on this site.

Investment Returns FAQs (frequently asked questions)

What is the annual return-on-investment (ROI) for the Dow Jones Industrial Average?

Using year-end closing prices, between 1915 and 2023, an investment in the Dow Jones Industrials has averaged a 6.4% annual return. $1,000 invested each year would now be worth over 13 million dollars.

What is the annual return-on-investment (ROI) for gold?

Using year-end closing prices, between 1968 and 2023, an investment in gold has averaged a 6.5% annual return. A one-time investment of $1,000 would now be worth over 49 thousand dollars.

What is the annual return-on-investment (ROI) for residential housing?

Per the annual closing value of the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, between 1990 and 2023, housing has had a 4.4% rate of return. Had you made a $150,000 investment in 1990, it would be worth just over $613,000 at the end of 2023.

What is the annual return-on-investment (ROI) for corporate AAA bonds?

Using year-end closing prices, per the ICE Bank of America U.S. Corporate AAA Index, AAA corporate bonds have had a 5.3% rate-of-return between 1990 and 2023, not considering coupon interest. A $10,000 investment made each year would now have a value of over $706,000.

What is the annual return-on-investment (ROI) for wheat?

Using year-end closing prices, the average annual rate-of-return (ROR) for an investment in wheat between 2000 and 2023 is 2.6%. A $5,000 investment made each year would now be worth $159,493.

55 Comments on “Historical Investment Calculator”

Join the conversation. Tell me what you think.
  • Hi,
    I want to use your calculator to support what’s due to an organization that did not receive $280k in 1922. I am making the argument that the organization is owed $87 million in todays dollars for that debt using your calculator.

    Do you have an opinion as to any argument against using your calculator’s results?

    What’s the deference in the gain and loss numbers?

    Any suggestions for using a better method would be appreciated too.

    Steve

    • Hello, I think your calculation is one way to look at the issue. You’re proposing that this is what the organization would have had if they had invested the money. However, more likely, the other side will say you should be using this inflation calculator. This calculator will tell you the equivalent amount today, adjusted for inflation.

  • Karl, thank you so much for this. This tool is really helpful for retirement planning as well as general edification.

    Have you thought about adding any of the FTSE indices? For those of us here across the pond that would be very handy. Thanks again for your work and for sharing it.

    • Thank you.

      I think that’s a good idea. I don’t know how I missed that one. FTSE is certainly a big name. Perhaps I didn’t find the data? I’ll check again. Give me a month or so, please.

    • Victor, I just finished updating the Historical Investment Calculator with end-of-year data for 2021. I’ve also added support for the FTSE 100 Index per your request. Thought you might like to know.

      • Thank you so much, Karl – for updating it and for replying to my post so it alerted me! I truly am grateful.

        • You’re welcome. My pleasure. I just hope the year-end closing prices are right. I was not able to find historical prices on the exchange’s site, so I’m relying on Wikipedia.

  • MANUEL E MOJICA says:

    this is incredible, you will have a plug in for wp with this calculator

  • Hi,

    Do you have the option to include bonds (30 year, or 10 year) and or just cash savings?

    Like I would like to see how my cash in a savings account (getting 0.5% APY) performed against stocks over the period including the inflation adjustment?

    And do you have the ability to have up to date returns? Like for the S&P these guys https://dqydj.com/sp-500-return-calculator/ have the option for up to date like the month June 2022.

    Great calculator and really helpful.

    Thanks!

    • Hi, this is the proxy for corporate bonds ICE BofAML US Corporate AAA Index and this is the proxy for cash Cash – US 3-Month T-Bill Proxy. The returns are always annual. The intent of this calculator is to teach the importance of investing over a long period, not to compare investments over say an 18-month time horizon.

  • Anthony B Landrum says:

    Thank you for creating and sharing this calculator. Tony

  • Vladimir Soukenik says:

    Hello, absolutely great tool you have developed. Thank you very much. Can you please add Nasdaq 100 index? Or is it very similar to the Nasdaq index you already have? Thank you!

    • Hi, thank you for the compliment. And you ask a good question. I should be clearer with my documentation.

      The calculator uses the Nasdaq Composite.

      From the NASDAQ website:

      FLAGSHIP EQUITY INDEXES
      Our equity offering includes flagship indexes respected globally for their coverage of the world’s top profile companies, high-performing portfolios and reflection of micro- and macro-economic factors.

      The Nasdaq Composite Index – Better known as ‘The Nasdaq’ by the media, covers more than 2,500 stocks, all of which are listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market®.
      Nasdaq-100 (NDX) – NDX includes 100 of the largest domestic and international non-financial securities listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market based on market capitalization. With more than 7,000 products linked to this index globally, NDX offers investors and managers around the world exposure to companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Starbucks and more.

      The point of the calculator is to teach users the benefits of long-term investing. I’m not sure that adding another Nasdaq index would add much value, and due to the additional data being downloaded, it would slow the calculator down somewhat.

      • OK, so I get it. If I may than ask just about your personal opinion – would you invest in Nasdaq Composite or Nasdaq 100 if you had to choose between these two? Or is it just too similar to differentiate? Thank you!

  • Sharon Cox Jennings says:

    Does the S & P Index include dividends and capital gains in the return

    • The S&P index is a price-tracking index. It does not include dividends. I’m not sure what you mean by capital gains. If a stock that is included in the index goes from $50 to $60 (a capital gain) the price change of the stock is captured by the index.

  • Are these average return or real return? Real return may be more appropriate way of measuring return since average can be deceiving to measure something that can go below your basis.
    For example, if you have $100 and it goes down 50% year 1, you have $50. If it goes up 50% year 2, you have $75, however average rate of return calculation would make you think you got your money back even though you are still down 25%.

    • Good question. The calculator is using real returns. You can confirm that by looking at the data i.e. the closing price and the percent change columns.

  • This is an awesome calculator!

    What would be nice is to be able to use a stock (I’m actually interested in ETF tracking an index, such as All Country World Index) and include the dividends paid out. This would allow one to also see the compounding effect if those dividends are re-invested directly.

    • The purpose of this calculator is to teach the importance and benefit of long-term investing and how investing in any asset class is better than not investing. It is not an investment tool to be used to help you make an investment decision today.

      While what you suggest could be helpful, it would be costly and time-consuming to obtain the data.

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