Real terms represents real increases in purchasing power. This means after adjusting for inflation, taxes and fees, how much more real world purchasing power would we gain just by holding one unit of the (S&P 500) index from 1999 - 2024. This report will simulate one unit

of the index being held in a mutual fund which may or may not be housed within a 401(k) retirement plan.

This removes the sales pitches, fancy terms, compound interest claims, etc. that Wall Street uses in their marketing. The power of compound

interest is certainly real, but this is largely a product of human discipline to keep contributing more money each month. Any investment can be compounded by reinvesting earnings forward, but this does not illustrate the true stand alone performance of an investment product.

Here’s an example to illustrate the point. An investor may invest $100 and earn $3 on the original investment in one year. The investor now

has a choice to either harvest or reinvest the earnings. If the earnings are reinvested, the investor is now earning say 3% on $103; however, in this example the investment is still only producing a net return of 3% no matter how many years the cycle is repeated.