The S&P 500 Sector Quilt - A Wealth of Common Sense (2024)

FAQs

Is the S&P 500 a good investment? ›

Over time, the S&P 500 has been good to investors. As of April 22, 2024, it generated a one-year return of 21.2%, a five-year annualized return of 11.5% and a 10-year annualized return of 10.3%.

The eleven sectors of the S&P 500 are information technology, financials, health care, consumer discretionary, communication services, industrials, consumer staples, energy, real estate, materials, and utilities.

Investing in an S&P 500 fund can instantly diversify your portfolio and is generally considered less risky. S&P 500 index funds or ETFs will track the performance of the S&P 500, which means when the S&P 500 does well, your investment will, too. (The opposite is also true, of course.)

Stock Market Average Yearly Return for the Last 10 Years

The historical average yearly return of the S&P 500 is 12.58% over the last 10 years, as of the end of April 2024. This assumes dividends are reinvested. Adjusted for inflation, the 10-year average stock market return (including dividends) is 9.52%.

Over the past decade, you would have done even better, as the S&P 500 posted an average annual return of a whopping 12.68%. Here's how much your account balance would be now if you were invested over the past 10 years: $1,000 would grow to $3,300. $5,000 would grow to $16,498.

$10,000 invested in the S&P 500 at the beginning of 2000 would have grown to $32,527 over 20 years — an average return of 6.07% per year.

Investing in the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO 0.19%) is a smart way to guarantee your fair share of the stock market's return. The exchange-traded fund's (ETF's) low expense ratio, strong record of closely tracking the S&P 500 index, and simplicity make it appealing to new investors and seasoned veterans alike.

The best performing Sector in the last 10 years is Information Technology, that granded a +20.31% annualized return. The worst is Energy, with a +3.81% annualized return in the last 10 years. The main S&P 500 Sectors can be easily replicated by ETFs.

How should a beginner invest in the S&P 500? ›

You can't directly invest in the index itself, but you can buy individual stocks of S&P 500 companies, or buy a S&P 500 index fund through a mutual fund or ETF. The latter is ideal for beginner investors since they provide broad market exposure and diversification at a low cost.

Assuming an average annual return rate of about 10% (a typical historical average), a $10,000 investment in the S&P 500 could potentially grow to approximately $25,937 over 10 years.

The S&P 500 is an index, so it does not pay dividends; however, there are mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the index, which you can invest in. If the companies in these funds pay dividends, you'll receive yours based on how many shares of the funds you hold.

General ROI: A positive ROI is generally considered good, with a normal ROI of 5-7% often seen as a reasonable expectation. However, a strong general ROI is something greater than 10%. Return on Stocks: On average, a ROI of 7% after inflation is often considered good, based on the historical returns of the market.

It's conceptually hard to imagine the S&P 500 smashing through 10,000, but it could still happen within the next five years or not too long after.