S&P 500 · DCA since 2011
$500/month in S&P 500 since 2011
What a monthly $500 dollar-cost average into S&P 500 would be worth today if you'd started in January 2011 and never stopped. Real adjusted closes, T+1 execution, no transaction fees modeled.
If you invested $500/month in S&P 500 from 2011-01 to 2026-06...
$273,511
grown from $93,000 invested over 15.5 years. +$180,511 (+194.1%)
Growth over time
Dashed: cumulative invested · Solid: portfolio value
Investment schedule
- Per investment
- $500.00
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Window
- 2011-01-01 → 2026-06-26
- Duration
- 15.5 years
- Number of investments
- 186× $500.00 each
Results
- Total invested
- $93,000186 × $500.00
- Final value
- $273,511as of 2026-06-26
- Total return
- +$180,511+194.1%
- Annualized (IRR)
- 12.81%/yrcompounded over 15.5 years
What 2011 actually was: through the debt-ceiling scare
The 2011 starting cohort bought into a year defined by the US credit downgrade and a brutal August selloff. It looked like another recession. Then the market quietly resumed its climb. For DCA investors, August 2011 was simply another month of cheaper purchases. Most barely remember it now.
For a S&P 500 DCA buyer who started January 2011 with $500 a month, the schedule pulled in 186 purchases through 2026-06-26. Total invested: $93,000. Final value: $273,511. That works out to an annualized return of 12.81% per year on the irregular cashflow series.
The numbers above use adjusted closing prices (dividends reinvested, splits applied) and apply a T+1 policy: when the 1st of the month landed on a weekend or holiday, the trade executed at the next trading day's close. Bitcoin pages execute on the exact scheduled date because crypto trades 24/7.
Change the numbers
Want to test a different amount, frequency, or end date? The full calculator has the same S&P 500 dataset behind it.