The numbers that actually matter in investing.

A curated dashboard of long-run market truths — the kind of facts that should anchor every portfolio decision. No noise, no hot takes, just the data.

S&P 500 avg annual return
~10%
Nominal, since 1928 (incl. dividends)
Years in bull market
79%
Of all years since 1928
Avg bear market drawdown
-36%
Average peak-to-trough decline
Dividends' share of total return
~40%
Last 50 years of S&P 500 returns
Long-run truths

Time in market wins

Since 1950, the S&P 500 has never had a negative total return over any 20-year holding period.

Bull beats bear

Average bull market: 6.6 years, +339% cumulative. Average bear: 1.3 years, -36%.

Rule of 72

72 ÷ annual return ≈ years to double. At 10% you double in ~7.2 years.

Drawdowns & recoveries

Intra-year pain is normal

Since 1980 the S&P 500 has had an intra-year drop of 10%+ in most years — yet finished positive in roughly 75% of them.

Recovery time

Average time to recover from a crash: ~2.5 years. The 1929 crash took 25 years to fully recover.

Shortest bear ever

Feb-Mar 2020 (COVID): just 33 days from peak to trough.

Concentration & winners

4% do all the work

Just ~4% of US stocks account for essentially 100% of net stock market wealth created since 1926.

Top-heavy index

The top 10 names in the S&P 500 now represent roughly a third of the index by weight.

Dividends compound

Dividend payers have beaten non-payers by ~2% per year over the last 90 years.

Behavior beats brilliance

Most traders lose

~70% of active day traders lose money; only ~1% are consistently profitable over five years.

Pros rarely beat the index

Over 15 years, only ~15% of actively managed US funds beat their benchmark net of fees.

Algos dominate flow

Roughly 90% of US equity trading volume is now executed by algorithms.