Real returns matter more than nominal numbers.
S&P 500 Total Return divided by CPI:
• June 1988: 2.34
• August 2026: 52.19
That's a 22x increase in real purchasing power over 38 years — roughly 8.5% annualized after inflation. This is why you stay invested through cycles. Inflation erodes cash, but equity ownership in productive businesses compounds wealth over time.
People obsess over monthly CPI prints and short-term volatility, but this chart shows what actually builds wealth: owning great businesses, reinvesting dividends, and letting compound interest do the heavy lifting.
The lesson isn't that stocks always go up. It's that over long periods, they've consistently outpaced inflation and preserved real buying power. That's the edge.
S&P 500 Total Return divided by CPI:
• June 1988: 2.34
• August 2026: 52.19
That's a 22x increase in real purchasing power over 38 years — roughly 8.5% annualized after inflation. This is why you stay invested through cycles. Inflation erodes cash, but equity ownership in productive businesses compounds wealth over time.
People obsess over monthly CPI prints and short-term volatility, but this chart shows what actually builds wealth: owning great businesses, reinvesting dividends, and letting compound interest do the heavy lifting.
The lesson isn't that stocks always go up. It's that over long periods, they've consistently outpaced inflation and preserved real buying power. That's the edge.