Try your own numbers
it would be worth today
$2,117
+$1,117 profit2.12x14.0% a year
The same $1,000 in an S&P 500 index fund: $2,218
Its shares paid about $22.27 in dividends over the last 12 months.
Includes the fund’s 0.03% yearly fee, roughly $2.43 over this time.
Aftertax on the gain, you’d keep$1,950
US federal long-term rates: 15% for most people, 0% on lower incomes, 20% + 3.8% on high incomes. No state tax included; none inside a Roth IRA.
Growth Over Time
Performance Metrics
Total Invested
$1,000.00
Current Value
$2,117.10
Total Profit
$1,117.10
Multiplier
2.12x
CAGR
14.0%
Max Drawdown
-24.8%
Inflation-Adjusted
$1,759.27
Benchmark Comparison
How does $1,000.00 invested in 2021 compare across different asset classes?
| Asset | Value Today | Return |
|---|---|---|
| Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) | $2,117.10 | 2.12x |
| S&P 500 | $2,218.04 | 2.22x |
| Gold | $2,213.49 | 2.21x |
| Savings (2% APY) | $1,120.46 | 1.12x |
Dividends
Over the last 12 months, the 5.64 shares you'd own now paid about $22.27 in dividends (about $1.86 a month). That's 2.2% of the $1,000 put in.
Price growth alone turned $1,000 into $1,956; reinvested dividends added the other $160.90, 14% of the gain.
Dividends from Yahoo Finance. Shares today assume every dividend was reinvested.
Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) charges a yearly fee of 0.03%. It’s already taken out of the fund’s price, so the results above include it; at today’s rate it came to roughly $2.43 on this investment. Source
Back in 2021
- In 2021, a gallon of gas averaged $3.01 and the new iPhone 13 Pro started at $999. eia.govapple.com
- During 2021 itself, Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) rose 28%, #57 of the 111 investments we track. The best was Solana (+11,084%); the worst was Zoom (−49%). Full 2021 results →
$1,000 in Total Stock Market ETF (VTI), year by year
Of the 111 investments we track that were available at the start of 2021, Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) ranks #49 by growth to today — just behind Berkshire Hathaway and ahead of Bank of America. See the full 2021 ranking →
Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) started 2021 at its highest start-of-year price up to then, after rising 18% in 2020. It has been worth more than the $1,000 put in at every January since, and still is today. Today's $2,117 is more than it was worth at any January since. It rose in 4 of the 5 full years since. It has trailed the same $1,000 in the S&P 500 at every January since, and still does. Month by month, the deepest fall ran from Dec 2021 ($1,276) to Sep 2022 ($959.33), a drop of 25%. At its lowest month-end, in Sep 2022, it was worth $959.33.
| When | Worth | Change | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start of 2021 | $1,000 | — | $1,000 |
| Start of 2022 | $1,283 | +28% | $1,287 |
| Start of 2023 | $1,022 | −20% | $1,054 |
| Start of 2024 | $1,285 | +26% | $1,331 |
| Start of 2025 | $1,598 | +24% | $1,664 |
| Start of 2026 | $1,881 | +18% | $1,962 |
| Today | $2,117 | +13% | $2,218 |
Values at the start of each year (first trading day for stocks). The S&P 500 column includes reinvested dividends, like the stock values.
Historical Context
At the start of 2021, Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) was priced at $177.29 (adjusted for later splits and dividends). $1,000 would have bought about 5.64 shares. VTI holds nearly every US-listed stock.
Measured from one January to the next, Total Stock Market ETF (VTI)'s best year since then was 2021 (+28%) and its worst was 2022 (−20%). Holding on wasn't easy: between the start of 2022 and the start of 2023, the position fell 20% from its high.
Frequently Asked Questions
A $1,000 investment in Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) at the start of 2021 would be worth approximately $2,117.10 today — a 2.12x return ($1,117.10 profit) over 5.7 years.
Methodology & Sources
Price data: Historical prices are the closing price on the first trading day of each year, adjusted for splits and dividends (so returns assume dividends were reinvested), from Yahoo Finance and MacroTrends. Current prices come from Yahoo Finance and refresh hourly; if that source is unavailable, the last saved price is used.
Calculation: Assumes a single purchase at the start of 2021 (or the first trading day, for companies that listed that year), held until today. No transaction fees, taxes, or slippage are included.
Benchmarks: The S&P 500 comparison uses the S&P 500 Total Return index (dividends reinvested, like an index fund) at the start of2021 and today. Gold uses the price per troy ounce. Savings account assumes a 2% APY compounded annually.
Inflation adjustment: Uses U.S. CPI-U annual averages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 2026 CPI value is estimated.
Educational purposes only. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Not financial advice.
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$1,000 in Total Stock Market ETF (VTI), by year
$1,000 in Total Stock Market ETF (VTI):1 year ago5 years ago10 years ago