If I'd invested in gold since 1995
$1,000 put into gold at the end of 1995 would be worth about $10,889 today — a 10.9× return, or roughly 8.2% a year. Change the amount below to run your own number.
You'd have
$10,889
from $1,000 invested — up 989%.
The story behind the number
Gold since 1995 has been a remarkably smooth ride. $1,000 put in at the end of 1995 grew to $10,889 — a 10.9× return, or about 8.2% a year. The S&P 500 actually did better over the same years, turning that $1,000 into $12,065 — about 1.11× what this returned.
The ride mattered as much as the destination. The strongest single year was 1999, up 20%; the worst was 2008, down 17%.
Holding on took nerve: the position fell as much as 42% from its 2011 peak to its 2015 low, before climbing back above that high by 2016.
Common questions
- How much would I have if I'd invested $1,000 in gold in 1995?
- $1,000 invested in gold at the end of 1995 would be worth about $10,889 today — a 10.9× return, or roughly 8.2% per year.
- What were the best and worst years for gold since 1995?
- The best year was 1999, up about 20%. The toughest was 2008, when it fell about 17%. Across the window, 177 of 366 years finished lower than they started.
- What was the biggest drop along the way?
- The steepest decline was about 42%, from a peak in 2011 to a low in 2015, with the value recovering above its prior high by 2016.
- Would I have done better in S&P 500?
- Yes — the S&P 500 turned $1,000 into about $12,065, versus $10,889 for gold over the same window.
The chart above shows the whole journey, not just the destination. Try switching to a bit each year to see how spreading your buying would have changed the outcome — or skip the latte to find out what a small daily habit could have grown into instead.
More gold scenarios
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