S&P 500 · DCA since 2012
$500/month in S&P 500 since 2012
What a monthly $500 dollar-cost average into S&P 500 would be worth today if you'd started in January 2012 and never stopped. Real adjusted closes, T+1 execution, no transaction fees modeled.
If you invested $500/month in S&P 500 from 2012-01 to 2026-06...
$238,762
grown from $87,000 invested over 14.5 years. +$151,762 (+174.44%)
Growth over time
Dashed: cumulative invested · Solid: portfolio value
Investment schedule
- Per investment
- $500.00
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Window
- 2012-01-01 → 2026-06-26
- Duration
- 14.5 years
- Number of investments
- 174× $500.00 each
Results
- Total invested
- $87,000174 × $500.00
- Final value
- $238,762as of 2026-06-26
- Total return
- +$151,762+174.44%
- Annualized (IRR)
- 12.91%/yrcompounded over 14.5 years
What 2012 actually was: as the long bull began
By 2012 the recovery had become real. Investors starting DCA that year caught nearly the full run of the longest bull market in modern history. Eight years of mostly steady gains before the 2020 pandemic interruption, then a sharp recovery and another four years of growth. Few starts have been more rewarding.
For a S&P 500 DCA buyer who started January 2012 with $500 a month, the schedule pulled in 174 purchases through 2026-06-26. Total invested: $87,000. Final value: $238,762. That works out to an annualized return of 12.91% 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.