🏆Annual Investment Performance Checker

Compare your annual portfolio return to a market benchmark to measure your investing alpha.

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How to Use the Annual Investment Performance Checker

Simply comparing start and end portfolio balances can be misleading if you added or withdrew money during the year. This calculator strips out those cash flows to isolate your true investment return: Investment Gain = End Value − Start Value − Contributions + Withdrawals. Dividing by start value gives your return rate.

Entering a benchmark return (e.g., S&P 500 for 2024 was approximately 23%) reveals your alpha — how much you beat or trailed the market. Positive alpha means you outperformed. One year of alpha is not enough to evaluate a strategy; consistency over 3–5 years and risk-adjusted comparison matter more than any single-year result.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I find the S&P 500 annual return?

Yahoo Finance, Macrotrends, and the S&P Global website publish annual total returns including dividends. The total return (price + dividends reinvested) is the fairest comparison for a typical buy-and-hold investor.

Should dividends be included in my end value?

Yes. If dividends were reinvested, they are already in your end portfolio value. If you took dividends as cash, add the after-tax dividend amount to your withdrawals to get an accurate picture of total return.

What is a realistic long-term return expectation?

The S&P 500 has returned approximately 10% annualized before inflation over very long periods. After 2–3% inflation, the real return is around 7–8%. Most active strategies underperform this after fees over a 10-year horizon.