If I'd invested in S&P 500 since 2012
$1,000 put into the S&P 500 at the end of 2012 would be worth about $5,209 today — a 5.21× return, or roughly 13.1% a year. Change the amount below to run your own number.
You'd have
$5,209
from $1,000 invested — up 421%.
The story behind the number
S&P 500 since 2012 has been a remarkably smooth ride. $1,000 put in at the end of 2012 grew to $5,209 — a 5.21× return, or about 13.1% a year. For contrast, gold — the classic play-it-safe alternative — turned the same $1,000 into $2,517 over the identical window.
The ride mattered as much as the destination. The strongest single year was 2020, up 13%; the worst was 2020, down 13%.
Holding on took nerve: the position fell as much as 25% from its 2021 peak to its 2022 low, before climbing back above that high by 2023. Inflation takes a bite, too — consumer prices rose about 44% over the period, so in today's money the result is closer to 3.61× what you put in.
Common questions
- How much would I have if I'd invested $1,000 in S&P 500 in 2012?
- $1,000 invested in the S&P 500 at the end of 2012 would be worth about $5,209 today — a 5.21× return, or roughly 13.1% per year.
- What were the best and worst years for S&P 500 since 2012?
- The best year was 2020, up about 13%. The toughest was 2020, when it fell about 13%. Across the window, 53 of 162 years finished lower than they started.
- What was the biggest drop along the way?
- The steepest decline was about 25%, from a peak in 2021 to a low in 2022, with the value recovering above its prior high by 2023.
- Would I have done better in gold?
- $1,000 in gold over the same window would be about $2,517, versus $5,209 in the S&P 500.
The chart above shows the whole journey, not just the destination. Try switching to a bit each year to see how spreading your buying would have changed the outcome — or skip the latte to find out what a small daily habit could have grown into instead.
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