Cumulative Return

The total amount an investor gets back from an investment. Annual return lets you know what you made during a year. Cumulative return is the all-time number. There's no time limit.

Your grandpa bought some magic beans in 1968 for $4. Since then, he went up the beanstalk every few years to collect some gold from the giant. He got $22 in gold in 1972, $53 in 1978, $75 in 1984 and $40 in 1987. In 1991, he sold his beanstalk rights for $400.

So he gathered $190 in gold from 1972 to 1987, and then brought in $400 from the sale, for a total of $590. Subtract the $4 he spent on the initial beans. His cumulative return was $586. That's a giant return.