Topic Hub
Investing Basics
Build a stronger investing foundation with return benchmarks, growth calculators, and practical investing explainers.
Use this hub to build more realistic investing assumptions around long-term returns, benchmarks, and growth projections before you turn them into an actual plan or contribution target.
Start Here
Best first picks for this topic
Primary calculator
Investment Calculator
Estimate how an investment could grow from a starting amount, recurring monthly investing, and an assumed long-term return.
Primary article
How to Calculate Your Investment Returns the Right Way
Learn how to calculate investment returns correctly — from simple holding period return to CAGR, IRR, and real inflation-adjusted returns. Includes formulas, examples, and a step-by-step checklist.
What You'll Learn
Key questions this hub helps answer
- How should you estimate investment growth without using unrealistic return assumptions?
- What counts as a useful benchmark for a long-term investing plan?
- How much should historical market averages influence your expectations?
- Which calculator fits a general investing scenario versus a retirement-specific one?
How This Hub Works
Use the tools and guides together
Start with the investment calculator to model a long-term plan using contribution and return assumptions you can actually defend. Then use the articles to compare benchmarks, pressure-test your expectations against historical context, and decide when a general investing projection is enough versus when a more specific compounding or retirement tool should take over.
Supporting Calculators
Compound Interest Calculator
Estimate how savings or investments may grow over time from a starting balance, monthly contributions, and compound growth.
Retirement Savings Calculator
Estimate how much you could have saved by retirement based on your age, current retirement savings, monthly contributions, and expected annual return.
ROI Calculator
Calculate return on investment from a final value or gain and loss, with an optional annualized ROI for a known holding period.
Supporting Articles
Article
What Is a Good Investment Return? Benchmarks You Should Know
What counts as a good return on investment depends on your asset class, time horizon, and goals. Learn the key benchmarks — from S&P 500 averages to inflation-adjusted returns — to evaluate your portfolio with confidence.
Article
Average Stock Market Returns Over the Last 50 Years
The S&P 500 has averaged ~10.5% annually over the last 50 years — about 7% after inflation. See the decade-by-decade breakdown, best and worst years, and how to use historical returns in your investment plan.
Article
What Is ROI? How to Calculate Return on Investment With Real Examples
ROI measures how much you gained or lost relative to what you invested — but the formula is only half the story. Learn how to calculate simple and annualized ROI, what each number means, and when to use which.
Article
Simple ROI vs. Annualized ROI: Which Number Actually Matters?
Simple ROI and annualized ROI look similar but answer completely different questions. Here's how to tell them apart, when to use each, and why mixing them up leads to bad investment comparisons.
Article
What Is a Good ROI? Benchmarks by Investment Type (2026)
What counts as a good return on investment depends on the asset class, time horizon, and risk you accepted. Here are the real benchmarks — from S&P 500 equities to real estate and bonds — to evaluate your results.
Related Topics
Topic Hub
Compound Interest and Growth
Explore how compounding changes long-term growth and how time, rate, and recurring contributions work together in real projections.
Topic Hub
Retirement Planning
Explore retirement savings targets, account choices, and long-term growth tools for planning the years ahead.