What We’re Showing
The growth of $100 invested in different asset classes from 1970 to 2023. This data was sourced from Aswath Damodaran at NYU Stern.
Key Takeaway
The S&P 500 has outperformed other major asset classes by a wide margin over the past five decades, outpacing U.S. 10-year Treasury bonds by almost tenfold since 1970.
U.S. Stocks
A $100 investment in the S&P 500 in 1970 would have grown to an impressive $22,419 by 2023, returning 12% annually when factoring in reinvested dividends.
Bonds
With 8.8% average annual returns, $100 invested in corporate bonds in 1970 would be worth $7,775 between in 2023, or 65% less than an investment in the S&P 500.
Year | S&P 500 | Cash | U.S. 10-Year Treasury Bonds | Corporate Bonds | Real Estate | Gold |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1970 | $100.00 | $100.0 | $100.00 | $100.00 | $100.00 | $100.00 |
1971 | $114.22 | $104.33 | $109.79 | $114.00 | $104.24 | $116.70 |
1972 | $135.64 | $108.57 | $112.88 | $127.01 | $107.35 | $173.63 |
1973 | $116.24 | $116.21 | $117.01 | $132.49 | $111.02 | $300.30 |
1974 | $86.13 | $125.33 | $119.34 | $126.69 | $122.20 | $498.95 |
1975 | $117.99 | $132.58 | $123.64 | $140.69 | $130.48 | $375.21 |
1976 | $146.11 | $139.18 | $143.40 | $168.48 | $141.15 | $359.83 |
1977 | $135.91 | $146.5 | $145.25 | $185.25 | $161.84 | $441.29 |
1978 | $144.76 | $157.01 | $144.12 | $191.06 | $187.28 | $604.62 |
1979 | $171.57 | $172.8 | $145.09 | $187.22 | $213.02 | $1,369.75 |
1980 | $226.02 | $192.49 | $140.75 | $181.01 | $228.78 | $1,577.76 |
1981 | $215.39 | $219.51 | $152.29 | $196.33 | $240.43 | $1,063.43 |
1982 | $259.37 | $242.78 | $202.27 | $253.37 | $241.79 | $1,229.56 |
1983 | $317.30 | $263.7 | $208.74 | $294.40 | $253.27 | $1,023.03 |
1984 | $336.81 | $288.86 | $237.40 | $340.39 | $265.12 | $824.79 |
1985 | $442.01 | $310.44 | $298.45 | $421.61 | $284.93 | $874.28 |
1986 | $523.75 | $328.97 | $370.92 | $511.64 | $312.32 | $1,040.02 |
1987 | $554.20 | $347.98 | $352.52 | $526.03 | $336.84 | $1,295.11 |
1988 | $645.85 | $371.18 | $381.51 | $601.69 | $361.17 | $1,097.54 |
1989 | $849.13 | $401.3 | $449.02 | $697.65 | $377.03 | $1,066.37 |
1990 | $823.11 | $431.38 | $477.02 | $741.47 | $374.44 | $1,033.20 |
1991 | $1,071.97 | $454.57 | $548.59 | $881.82 | $373.80 | $944.78 |
1992 | $1,152.30 | $470.16 | $599.95 | $981.51 | $376.86 | $890.61 |
1993 | $1,267.15 | $484.25 | $685.21 | $1,133.37 | $384.98 | $1,048.05 |
1994 | $1,283.96 | $504.85 | $630.14 | $1,122.40 | $394.67 | $1,025.31 |
1995 | $1,761.53 | $532.56 | $778.10 | $1,361.33 | $401.74 | $1,035.34 |
1996 | $2,161.06 | $559.22 | $789.22 | $1,407.82 | $411.49 | $987.85 |
1997 | $2,876.45 | $587.53 | $867.66 | $1,587.38 | $428.04 | $776.37 |
1998 | $3,691.57 | $615.58 | $997.13 | $1,708.46 | $455.61 | $769.95 |
1999 | $4,462.57 | $644.14 | $914.82 | $1,723.95 | $490.61 | $776.50 |
2000 | $4,059.52 | $681.63 | $1,067.19 | $1,885.79 | $536.19 | $734.24 |
2001 | $3,578.48 | $704.8 | $1,126.65 | $2,046.81 | $572.00 | $739.72 |
2002 | $2,792.43 | $716.11 | $1,296.96 | $2,295.37 | $626.68 | $928.86 |
2003 | $3,584.24 | $723.33 | $1,301.83 | $2,578.08 | $688.17 | $1,113.59 |
2004 | $3,969.29 | $733.28 | $1,360.29 | $2,844.81 | $782.02 | $1,165.36 |
2005 | $4,161.18 | $756.37 | $1,399.30 | $2,995.54 | $887.68 | $1,372.43 |
2006 | $4,810.85 | $792.14 | $1,426.74 | $3,151.20 | $903.06 | $1,690.79 |
2007 | $5,074.71 | $826.7 | $1,572.40 | $3,303.86 | $854.32 | $2,230.53 |
2008 | $3,219.78 | $838.04 | $1,888.48 | $3,186.89 | $751.84 | $2,326.84 |
2009 | $4,054.84 | $839.3 | $1,678.54 | $3,830.95 | $722.85 | $2,909.39 |
2010 | $4,655.82 | $840.46 | $1,820.60 | $4,191.46 | $693.12 | $3,760.13 |
2011 | $4,753.51 | $840.9 | $2,112.53 | $4,705.46 | $666.19 | $4,212.25 |
2012 | $5,508.87 | $841.64 | $2,175.31 | $5,144.34 | $709.07 | $4,451.70 |
2013 | $7,279.70 | $842.12 | $1,977.26 | $5,093.78 | $785.04 | $3,222.40 |
2014 | $8,264.24 | $842.39 | $2,189.74 | $5,642.98 | $820.42 | $3,226.41 |
2015 | $8,378.20 | $842.83 | $2,217.86 | $5,558.29 | $863.08 | $2,835.81 |
2016 | $9,364.57 | $845.5 | $2,233.17 | $6,198.85 | $908.87 | $3,065.62 |
2017 | $11,387.83 | $853.39 | $2,295.74 | $6,771.25 | $965.28 | $3,453.80 |
2018 | $10,906.48 | $869.92 | $2,295.36 | $6,549.87 | $1,008.90 | $3,421.71 |
2019 | $14,310.58 | $887.86 | $2,516.53 | $7,548.58 | $1,046.09 | $4,074.48 |
2020 | $16,889.80 | $891.01 | $2,801.70 | $8,348.82 | $1,155.22 | $5,059.25 |
2021 | $21,698.13 | $891.41 | $2,677.98 | $8,426.75 | $1,373.26 | $4,869.30 |
2022 | $17,784.33 | $909.46 | $2,200.54 | $7,150.60 | $1,451.10 | $4,896.06 |
2023 | $22,419.05 | $955.57 | $2,285.92 | $7,775.25 | $1,542.41 | $5,545.38 |
S&P 500 includes dividends. Cash represented by 3-Month U.S. T-Bills. Corporate Bonds represented by Baa corporate bonds. Real Estate represented by the Case-Shiller Home Price Index.
https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/datafile/histretSP.html