|
|
|
|
|
|
by bradleyjg
3760 days ago
|
|
|
Nice site. You may want to look at Robert Schiller's (of Case-Schiller index fame, among other things) data set available here:
http://www.econ.yale.edu/~shiller/data.htm
He has S&P dividends by quarter back to 1871. Fees do make a difference, though they are pretty small in e.g. VFINX -> VFIAX. If you want to be super realistic you could build up the dollars a day at say the federal funds rate until you hit the VFINX minimum, then accumulate $100 batches at that rate before investing them in the S&P 500. Once the account hits VFIAX switch to that for fees. There's also taxes but that's just a mess because there are so many possible scenarios. Probably this whole paragraph is just overkill. As for as inflation goes, the big thing is not the current amount of money, which after all is today's dollars and so easy to understand, but to try to get across the fact that in 1950 $1 was a heck of a lot more than it was today (about $10). Still not a huge amount of money perhaps, but not something you would just drop in a tip jar either. That also gets to the point that is kind of a crazy investment strategy. In real terms you are investing the most when you are least able to afford to. Since it isn't supposed to be a serious strategy, instead more of something to think about that's no big deal, but it's worth noting. |
|
|