What investing from 2020 was like
The yearly figures hide 2020 completely. Between February 19 and March 23 the S&P 500 fell about 34% as the pandemic shut the economy down. Then rate cuts and stimulus set off one of the fastest recoveries on record, and the year ended up 18.4% with dividends.
2022 was the real test: inflation forced the Federal Reserve into its fastest rate increases in four decades, and the market lost 18.1%. Gains of 26.3%, 25.0% and 17.9% in the next three years more than made up for it.
All at once, or a little each month?
$10,000 invested on the first day of 2020 grew to $23,244 by the end of 2025. The same $10,000 spread evenly over all 72 months, $138.89 a month, grew to $15,955. Across every 6-year period in the data, investing it all at once came out ahead in 91% of them, because money invested sooner spends longer in a market that rises more often than it falls.
How 2020–2025 ranks
There are 150 periods of 6 calendar years in the data, which starts in 1871. This one ranks 34 of 150, with 15.09% a year. The best was 1950–1955 at 25.36%, the median 10.14%, and the worst 1929–1934 at −10.03%.
Every year since 2020: returns, inflation and the value of $100
| Year | Total return | Inflation | Real return | $100 from 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +18.4% | +1.4% | +16.8% | $118.38 |
| 2021 | +28.8% | +7.0% | +20.4% | $152.51 |
| 2022 | −18.1% | +6.5% | −23.1% | $124.89 |
| 2023 | +26.3% | +3.3% | +22.2% | $157.72 |
| 2024 | +25.0% | +2.9% | +21.5% | $197.19 |
| 2025 | +17.9% | +2.7% | +14.8% | $232.44 |
How this is calculated
Returns are calendar-year total returns: the change in the S&P 500 plus dividends, reinvested. Before 1957 the figures are Robert Shiller’s reconstruction of the broad U.S. market, as the index itself didn’t yet have 500 stocks. Real returns subtract December-to-December inflation. The data is yearly, so falls within a year, like the spring of 2020, don’t show; the biggest fall here is measured between year-end values. Fees and taxes are left out.
For what prices did over the same years, see what $100 in 2020 is worth today. Every figure here comes from the same data as the S&P 500 return calculator. The method is on the methodology page.
Sources
- Robert J. Shiller, U.S. stock market data (S&P Composite, dividends and CPI), Yale University.
- S&P Dow Jones Indices, S&P 500 total returns for recent years.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), December values.