Total Return "Porn" through February, 2019
For some reason some people like to see my personal rate of return data. OK, here are the latest conveniently accessible figures through the end of February, 2019, across the three investment firms that hold the bulk of my household's wealth. My last update was through July, 2018, so this update is after the September to December, 2018, U.S. stock market correction. These figures represent annualized total account returns ("money returns") in nominal U.S. dollars. There will be some capital gains tax or ordinary income tax due upon future sale, please note. After tax dividends have been almost entirely reinvested in full since the accounts were opened. (I say "almost" because there's one small, strange exception at Schwab.) Only Vanguard provides an easy way to look up a 10 year number while the others report from account inception.
Vanguard
10 Year: 8.9%
5 Year: 5.7%
3 Year: 9.0%
1 Year: 0.6%
Fidelity
Inception: 4.77%
5 Year: 5.85%
3 Year: 11.16%
1 Year: 2.10%
Caveat: A small portion (less than 5%) of my Fidelity holdings is not reflected in the above figures. That portion only came into existence fairly recently, and due to an apparent quirk in their online system it won't show up in the above figures for some more months. If it were included in the 1 Year figure then that figure would be a little higher, still 2.X%.
Schwab
Inception: 12.66%
3 Year: 19.40%
1 Year: -0.66%
The total account values are in approximately these ratios (Vanguard:Fidelity:Schwab): 16:8:1. Savings continue to flow every month into Fidelity and Vanguard.
I have absolutely no complaints. None of this stuff is "rocket science." It's just the natural outcome of regular, dogged monthly savings for many years into a very small number of low cost, well diversified funds.