Stock market returns between 1987 and 2006
If you invested $10000 in the S&P 500 at the beginning of 1987, you would have about $84,227.27 at the end of 2006, assuming you reinvested all dividends. This is a return on investment of 742.27%, or 11.24% per year.
This investment result beats inflation during this period for an inflation-adjusted return of about 374.61% cumulatively, or 8.10% per year.
The graph below shows the performance of $10000 over time if invested in an S&P 500 index fund. The returns assume that all dividends are automatically reinvested.
This chart shows the rate of gains and loss by month, including dividends:
Adjusting stock market return for inflation
The nominal return on investment of $10000 is $74,227.27, or 742.27%. This means by 2006 you would have $84,227.27 in your pocket.
However, it's important to take into account the effect of inflation when considering an investment and especially a long-term investment. You can convert S&P returns to their real (inflation-adjusted) value using an inflation calculation based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI).
In the case of the returns described above, the CPI in 1987 was 113.600 and the CPI in 2006 was 201.600.
The ratio between these CPIs describes how relative buying power of a dollar has changed over 19 years.
Adjusted for inflation, the $84,227.27 nominal end value of the original $10000 investment would have a real value of roughly $37,461.40 in 1987 dollars. This means the inflation-adjusted return is 374.61% as opposed to the original 742.27%.
For more information on inflation, see our U.S. inflation calculator for 1987.
Full monthly data
The table below shows the full dataset pertaining to a $10000 investment, including gains and losses over the 240-month period between 1987 and 2006.
Note that data shown is the monthly average closing price. Returns include dividends.
| Year |
Month |
Return (%) |
Amount ($) |
CPI |
| 1987 |
1 |
6.46% |
10,646.19 |
111.20 |
| 1987 |
2 |
4.38% |
11,112.11 |
111.60 |
| 1987 |
3 |
-0.86% |
11,016.94 |
112.10 |
| 1987 |
4 |
0.17% |
11,035.98 |
112.70 |
| 1987 |
5 |
4.50% |
11,532.43 |
113.10 |
| 1987 |
6 |
3.12% |
11,892.49 |
113.50 |
| 1987 |
7 |
6.45% |
12,660.03 |
113.80 |
| 1987 |
8 |
-3.03% |
12,276.37 |
114.40 |
| 1987 |
9 |
-11.85% |
10,821.15 |
115.00 |
| 1987 |
10 |
-12.30% |
9,489.78 |
115.30 |
| 1987 |
11 |
-1.33% |
9,363.12 |
115.40 |
| 1987 |
12 |
4.25% |
9,760.73 |
115.40 |
| 1988 |
1 |
3.33% |
10,085.62 |
115.70 |
| 1988 |
2 |
3.23% |
10,411.59 |
116.00 |
| 1988 |
3 |
-0.89% |
10,319.34 |
116.50 |
| 1988 |
4 |
-2.19% |
10,093.53 |
117.10 |
| 1988 |
5 |
6.00% |
10,698.96 |
117.50 |
| 1988 |
6 |
-0.31% |
10,666.12 |
118.00 |
| 1988 |
7 |
-1.72% |
10,482.82 |
118.50 |
| 1988 |
8 |
1.93% |
10,684.85 |
119.00 |
| 1988 |
9 |
3.80% |
11,091.04 |
119.80 |
| 1988 |
10 |
-2.02% |
10,866.98 |
120.20 |
| 1988 |
11 |
2.33% |
11,119.74 |
120.30 |
| 1988 |
12 |
3.51% |
11,510.34 |
120.50 |
| 1989 |
1 |
3.30% |
11,890.16 |
121.10 |
| 1989 |
2 |
-0.16% |
11,870.94 |
121.60 |
| 1989 |
3 |
3.56% |
12,294.11 |
122.30 |
| 1989 |
4 |
4.12% |
12,800.05 |
123.10 |
| 1989 |
5 |
3.39% |
13,234.31 |
123.80 |
| 1989 |
6 |
2.80% |
13,604.89 |
124.10 |
| 1989 |
7 |
4.69% |
14,243.07 |
124.40 |
| 1989 |
8 |
0.46% |
14,307.95 |
124.60 |
| 1989 |
9 |
0.29% |
14,348.91 |
125.00 |
| 1989 |
10 |
-1.81% |
14,088.68 |
125.60 |
| 1989 |
11 |
2.74% |
14,474.25 |
125.90 |
| 1989 |
12 |
-2.21% |
14,154.19 |
126.10 |
| 1990 |
1 |
-2.53% |
13,796.49 |
127.40 |
| 1990 |
2 |
2.71% |
14,169.98 |
128.00 |
| 1990 |
3 |
0.20% |
14,197.75 |
128.70 |
| 1990 |
4 |
3.85% |
14,744.50 |
128.90 |
| 1990 |
5 |
3.17% |
15,211.89 |
129.20 |
| 1990 |
6 |
0.17% |
15,237.71 |
129.90 |
| 1990 |
7 |
-7.86% |
14,039.84 |
130.40 |
| 1990 |
8 |
-4.34% |
13,430.36 |
131.60 |
| 1990 |
9 |
-2.32% |
13,119.34 |
132.70 |
| 1990 |
10 |
2.98% |
13,510.80 |
133.50 |
| 1990 |
11 |
4.59% |
14,130.49 |
133.80 |
| 1990 |
12 |
-0.69% |
14,033.67 |
133.80 |
| 1991 |
1 |
11.61% |
15,662.53 |
134.60 |
| 1991 |
2 |
3.04% |
16,139.39 |
134.80 |
| 1991 |
3 |
2.26% |
16,503.95 |
135.00 |
| 1991 |
4 |
-0.18% |
16,474.43 |
135.20 |
| 1991 |
5 |
0.35% |
16,531.60 |
135.60 |
| 1991 |
6 |
0.78% |
16,660.62 |
136.00 |
| 1991 |
7 |
2.68% |
17,106.95 |
136.20 |
| 1991 |
8 |
-0.30% |
17,055.10 |
136.60 |
| 1991 |
9 |
0.18% |
17,086.08 |
137.20 |
| 1991 |
10 |
0.02% |
17,088.78 |
137.40 |
| 1991 |
11 |
0.94% |
17,248.58 |
137.80 |
| 1991 |
12 |
7.36% |
18,517.74 |
137.90 |
| 1992 |
1 |
-0.60% |
18,406.48 |
138.10 |
| 1992 |
2 |
-1.01% |
18,220.13 |
138.60 |
| 1992 |
3 |
0.26% |
18,268.29 |
139.30 |
| 1992 |
4 |
2.07% |
18,646.14 |
139.50 |
| 1992 |
5 |
-1.33% |
18,398.31 |
139.70 |
| 1992 |
6 |
1.91% |
18,750.11 |
140.20 |
| 1992 |
7 |
0.94% |
18,926.68 |
140.50 |
| 1992 |
8 |
0.38% |
18,998.26 |
140.90 |
| 1992 |
9 |
-1.18% |
18,773.69 |
141.30 |
| 1992 |
10 |
2.76% |
19,291.27 |
141.80 |
| 1992 |
11 |
3.27% |
19,922.32 |
142.00 |
| 1992 |
12 |
0.14% |
19,950.79 |
141.90 |
| 1993 |
1 |
1.72% |
20,294.79 |
142.60 |
| 1993 |
2 |
2.15% |
20,731.16 |
143.10 |
| 1993 |
3 |
-1.34% |
20,453.00 |
143.60 |
| 1993 |
4 |
0.72% |
20,601.23 |
144.00 |
| 1993 |
5 |
0.87% |
20,779.47 |
144.20 |
| 1993 |
6 |
0.06% |
20,792.14 |
144.40 |
| 1993 |
7 |
1.76% |
21,158.60 |
144.40 |
| 1993 |
8 |
1.35% |
21,445.29 |
144.80 |
| 1993 |
9 |
1.24% |
21,711.62 |
145.10 |
| 1993 |
10 |
0.01% |
21,713.26 |
145.70 |
| 1993 |
11 |
0.89% |
21,905.89 |
145.80 |
| 1993 |
12 |
1.74% |
22,286.15 |
145.80 |
| 1994 |
1 |
-0.08% |
22,269.28 |
146.20 |
| 1994 |
2 |
-1.42% |
21,952.21 |
146.70 |
| 1994 |
3 |
-3.35% |
21,217.60 |
147.20 |
| 1994 |
4 |
1.06% |
21,442.14 |
147.40 |
| 1994 |
5 |
1.11% |
21,679.74 |
147.50 |
| 1994 |
6 |
-0.52% |
21,567.25 |
148.00 |
| 1994 |
7 |
3.08% |
22,231.97 |
148.40 |
| 1994 |
8 |
0.82% |
22,413.70 |
149.00 |
| 1994 |
9 |
-0.44% |
22,314.19 |
149.40 |
| 1994 |
10 |
-0.37% |
22,231.65 |
149.50 |
| 1994 |
11 |
-1.03% |
22,003.62 |
149.70 |
| 1994 |
12 |
2.45% |
22,542.97 |
149.70 |
| 1995 |
1 |
3.82% |
23,403.90 |
150.30 |
| 1995 |
2 |
2.56% |
24,002.61 |
150.90 |
| 1995 |
3 |
3.22% |
24,774.43 |
151.40 |
| 1995 |
4 |
3.35% |
25,603.82 |
151.90 |
| 1995 |
5 |
3.18% |
26,417.62 |
152.20 |
| 1995 |
6 |
3.55% |
27,354.78 |
152.50 |
| 1995 |
7 |
0.51% |
27,495.14 |
152.50 |
| 1995 |
8 |
3.72% |
28,517.32 |
152.90 |
| 1995 |
9 |
0.91% |
28,777.56 |
153.20 |
| 1995 |
10 |
2.36% |
29,456.24 |
153.70 |
| 1995 |
11 |
3.39% |
30,454.56 |
153.60 |
| 1995 |
12 |
0.16% |
30,504.07 |
153.50 |
| 1996 |
1 |
5.90% |
32,305.15 |
154.40 |
| 1996 |
2 |
-0.20% |
32,240.31 |
154.90 |
| 1996 |
3 |
0.20% |
32,303.84 |
155.70 |
| 1996 |
4 |
2.35% |
33,064.54 |
156.30 |
| 1996 |
5 |
1.28% |
33,487.30 |
156.60 |
| 1996 |
6 |
-3.48% |
32,323.09 |
156.70 |
| 1996 |
7 |
3.08% |
33,317.27 |
157.00 |
| 1996 |
8 |
2.02% |
33,991.52 |
157.30 |
| 1996 |
9 |
4.12% |
35,391.80 |
157.80 |
| 1996 |
10 |
5.05% |
37,179.82 |
158.30 |
| 1996 |
11 |
1.20% |
37,625.32 |
158.60 |
| 1996 |
12 |
3.26% |
38,850.98 |
158.60 |
| 1997 |
1 |
4.36% |
40,545.34 |
159.10 |
| 1997 |
2 |
-0.62% |
40,292.46 |
159.60 |
| 1997 |
3 |
-3.41% |
38,920.40 |
160.00 |
| 1997 |
4 |
9.22% |
42,508.02 |
160.20 |
| 1997 |
5 |
5.34% |
44,776.60 |
160.10 |
| 1997 |
6 |
5.74% |
47,344.95 |
160.30 |
| 1997 |
7 |
0.35% |
47,509.61 |
160.50 |
| 1997 |
8 |
1.19% |
48,075.93 |
160.80 |
| 1997 |
9 |
1.65% |
48,866.96 |
161.20 |
| 1997 |
10 |
-1.15% |
48,303.99 |
161.60 |
| 1997 |
11 |
2.63% |
49,576.62 |
161.50 |
| 1997 |
12 |
0.24% |
49,694.16 |
161.30 |
| 1998 |
1 |
6.40% |
52,875.66 |
161.60 |
| 1998 |
2 |
5.31% |
55,684.87 |
161.90 |
| 1998 |
3 |
3.41% |
57,581.32 |
162.20 |
| 1998 |
4 |
-0.22% |
57,453.57 |
162.50 |
| 1998 |
5 |
0.12% |
57,520.48 |
162.80 |
| 1998 |
6 |
4.47% |
60,090.30 |
163.00 |
| 1998 |
7 |
-6.97% |
55,901.40 |
163.20 |
| 1998 |
8 |
-4.90% |
53,163.10 |
163.40 |
| 1998 |
9 |
1.29% |
53,849.36 |
163.60 |
| 1998 |
10 |
10.97% |
59,759.00 |
164.00 |
| 1998 |
11 |
4.10% |
62,211.57 |
164.00 |
| 1998 |
12 |
5.05% |
65,351.81 |
163.90 |
| 1999 |
1 |
-0.07% |
65,308.22 |
164.30 |
| 1999 |
2 |
2.92% |
67,217.51 |
164.50 |
| 1999 |
3 |
4.25% |
70,074.27 |
165.00 |
| 1999 |
4 |
-0.10% |
70,005.01 |
166.20 |
| 1999 |
5 |
-0.61% |
69,576.74 |
166.20 |
| 1999 |
6 |
4.52% |
72,723.27 |
166.20 |
| 1999 |
7 |
-3.77% |
69,978.42 |
166.70 |
| 1999 |
8 |
-0.60% |
69,559.93 |
167.10 |
| 1999 |
9 |
-1.27% |
68,674.80 |
167.90 |
| 1999 |
10 |
7.11% |
73,554.80 |
168.20 |
| 1999 |
11 |
2.81% |
75,620.76 |
168.30 |
| 1999 |
12 |
-0.12% |
75,530.82 |
168.30 |
| 2000 |
1 |
-2.48% |
73,659.11 |
168.80 |
| 2000 |
2 |
3.94% |
76,561.98 |
169.80 |
| 2000 |
3 |
1.42% |
77,652.73 |
171.20 |
| 2000 |
4 |
-2.84% |
75,448.33 |
171.30 |
| 2000 |
5 |
3.16% |
77,835.12 |
171.50 |
| 2000 |
6 |
0.85% |
78,496.99 |
172.40 |
| 2000 |
7 |
0.94% |
79,234.63 |
172.80 |
| 2000 |
8 |
-1.08% |
78,379.18 |
172.80 |
| 2000 |
9 |
-5.21% |
74,292.31 |
173.70 |
| 2000 |
10 |
-0.77% |
73,718.35 |
174.00 |
| 2000 |
11 |
-3.32% |
71,270.85 |
174.10 |
| 2000 |
12 |
0.46% |
71,595.13 |
174.00 |
| 2001 |
1 |
-2.14% |
70,065.68 |
175.10 |
| 2001 |
2 |
-9.08% |
63,703.78 |
175.80 |
| 2001 |
3 |
0.45% |
63,989.62 |
176.20 |
| 2001 |
4 |
6.88% |
68,391.68 |
176.90 |
| 2001 |
5 |
-2.39% |
66,758.04 |
177.70 |
| 2001 |
6 |
-2.66% |
64,982.12 |
178.00 |
| 2001 |
7 |
-2.05% |
63,652.69 |
177.50 |
| 2001 |
8 |
-11.25% |
56,493.47 |
177.50 |
| 2001 |
9 |
3.18% |
58,292.24 |
178.30 |
| 2001 |
10 |
5.05% |
61,237.83 |
177.70 |
| 2001 |
11 |
1.47% |
62,135.61 |
177.40 |
| 2001 |
12 |
-0.30% |
61,950.63 |
176.70 |
| 2002 |
1 |
-3.35% |
59,873.57 |
177.10 |
| 2002 |
2 |
4.95% |
62,834.48 |
177.80 |
| 2002 |
3 |
-3.51% |
60,626.21 |
178.80 |
| 2002 |
4 |
-2.82% |
58,916.32 |
179.80 |
| 2002 |
5 |
-5.92% |
55,427.91 |
179.80 |
| 2002 |
6 |
-10.76% |
49,464.70 |
179.90 |
| 2002 |
7 |
1.14% |
50,028.00 |
180.10 |
| 2002 |
8 |
-4.76% |
47,647.80 |
180.70 |
| 2002 |
9 |
-1.37% |
46,996.44 |
181.00 |
| 2002 |
10 |
6.63% |
50,110.22 |
181.30 |
| 2002 |
11 |
-1.04% |
49,591.55 |
181.30 |
| 2002 |
12 |
-0.22% |
49,481.20 |
180.90 |
| 2003 |
1 |
-6.41% |
46,307.06 |
181.70 |
| 2003 |
2 |
1.31% |
46,912.71 |
183.10 |
| 2003 |
3 |
5.29% |
49,392.45 |
184.20 |
| 2003 |
4 |
5.31% |
52,016.28 |
183.80 |
| 2003 |
5 |
5.70% |
54,983.39 |
183.50 |
| 2003 |
6 |
0.60% |
55,311.03 |
183.70 |
| 2003 |
7 |
-0.17% |
55,219.04 |
183.90 |
| 2003 |
8 |
3.16% |
56,964.61 |
184.60 |
| 2003 |
9 |
2.03% |
58,119.76 |
185.20 |
| 2003 |
10 |
1.21% |
58,823.35 |
185.00 |
| 2003 |
11 |
3.06% |
60,625.58 |
184.50 |
| 2003 |
12 |
4.93% |
63,617.43 |
184.30 |
| 2004 |
1 |
1.09% |
64,308.74 |
185.20 |
| 2004 |
2 |
-1.57% |
63,302.18 |
186.20 |
| 2004 |
3 |
0.97% |
63,915.03 |
187.40 |
| 2004 |
4 |
-2.56% |
62,276.09 |
188.00 |
| 2004 |
5 |
2.86% |
64,055.74 |
189.10 |
| 2004 |
6 |
-2.24% |
62,621.67 |
189.70 |
| 2004 |
7 |
-1.39% |
61,752.75 |
189.40 |
| 2004 |
8 |
2.78% |
63,471.10 |
189.50 |
| 2004 |
9 |
0.10% |
63,536.22 |
189.90 |
| 2004 |
10 |
4.77% |
66,569.37 |
190.90 |
| 2004 |
11 |
2.73% |
68,385.02 |
191.00 |
| 2004 |
12 |
-1.35% |
67,462.35 |
190.30 |
| 2005 |
1 |
1.68% |
68,596.53 |
190.70 |
| 2005 |
2 |
-0.26% |
68,421.21 |
191.80 |
| 2005 |
3 |
-2.41% |
66,773.00 |
193.30 |
| 2005 |
4 |
1.34% |
67,665.00 |
194.60 |
| 2005 |
5 |
2.18% |
69,140.57 |
194.40 |
| 2005 |
6 |
1.81% |
70,390.48 |
194.50 |
| 2005 |
7 |
0.31% |
70,608.71 |
195.40 |
| 2005 |
8 |
0.28% |
70,806.19 |
196.40 |
| 2005 |
9 |
-2.62% |
68,948.08 |
198.80 |
| 2005 |
10 |
3.96% |
71,679.49 |
199.20 |
| 2005 |
11 |
2.14% |
73,216.39 |
197.60 |
| 2005 |
12 |
1.47% |
74,290.31 |
196.80 |
| 2006 |
1 |
-0.02% |
74,277.95 |
198.30 |
| 2006 |
2 |
1.49% |
75,381.82 |
198.70 |
| 2006 |
3 |
0.80% |
75,983.61 |
199.80 |
| 2006 |
4 |
-0.79% |
75,385.90 |
201.50 |
| 2006 |
5 |
-2.71% |
73,346.11 |
202.50 |
| 2006 |
6 |
0.72% |
73,874.24 |
202.90 |
| 2006 |
7 |
2.29% |
75,567.26 |
203.50 |
| 2006 |
8 |
2.53% |
77,479.99 |
203.90 |
| 2006 |
9 |
3.62% |
80,281.60 |
202.90 |
| 2006 |
10 |
2.00% |
81,888.55 |
201.80 |
| 2006 |
11 |
2.15% |
83,647.74 |
201.50 |
| 2006 |
12 |
0.69% |
84,227.27 |
201.80 |
Click to show 222 more rows
The information on this page is derived from Robert Shiller's book, Irrational Exuberance and the accompanying dataset, as well as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly CPI logs.
Note that S&P index value for the current quarter is based on a moving average of closing prices, per Robert Shiller's methodology. The inflation data used is based on annual CPI averages.
