For many, the new year is a time of joy and hope as the days start getting longer in the northern hemisphere, and expectations of good things come to mind. For some sadly, it is also a time for completing a tax return. That does take the fun out of the new year somewhat!
However to give me a lift while working through my tax figures, I took the opportunity to look back at the performance of my self invested pension over the last year, as well as various other time periods. Of all my investment accounts this is the easiest to chart progress with as it has not had any withdrawals. I have to admit, I was pretty chuffed…
Gain over 2024: 74%
Gain over 2023: 67%
Gain over 5 years: 287%
Gain over 10 years: 478%
That compares pretty well to the leading comparator of the S&P 500 index which rose 25% in 2024, 24% in 2023, 96% over 5 years and 249% over 10 years all with dividends reinvested¹.
With average annualised returns of about 20% I guess that puts me in the top 1% of active investors over a ten year timeframe. Perhaps even the top 0.1% however I can’t readily find any reliable figures to compare to.
Aside from that I have to thank my former self for being so diligent in making notes about applicable tax reliefs. On looking at my tax return yesterday, I knew a relief from the myriad available was due thanks to previous research, however I could not recall which. Thankfully my detailed use of note taking meant I had already recorded the detail I needed. There is a lesson there for any would be investor, make sure you keep detailed notes that you can find should you need to refer to them in the future!
E&OE.
¹ Source.
