Portfolio growth
This chart answers one question: for a given mix of assets, what did a lump sum actually grow into over history? The vertical axis is real purchasing power, net of inflation. That is a far more honest yardstick than nominal balances — the famous high interest rates of the early 1980s look much less generous once that era's inflation is subtracted.
Pick a portfolio (or set your own weights) and the chart draws cumulative growth from the start year to the present. The axis is logarithmic, so equal slopes mean equal growth rates; every dip in the line is a bad stretch that actually happened to real investors.
Key readings
- Ending real purchasing power (from 10,000)
- $1,365,219
- Deepest drawdown
- −35.2% (1972-1974)
Data and limits
The line is built from annual data, so it hides everything that happened within each year. Start and end years matter enormously to how a chart "feels" — re-running it from a different start year is a healthy habit. The long series here are US-dollar, US-market data; other markets trace different shapes, though the directional lessons (diversify, stay long, don't sell in the trough) travel well.
Portfolio math assumes annual rebalancing.
Data are annual real (inflation-adjusted) returns; sources and definitions are documented in "Where the chart data comes from" on the methodology page. methodology page
Everything above is computed from historical data and your inputs. History does not guarantee the future. Not investment advice.
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