Just been looking at the long-term stock market graph last 20 years, and honestly it's pretty interesting how different these three major indexes performed. The S&P 500 returned 345% over two decades (7.7% annually), but if you reinvested dividends you're looking at 546% total, which compounds to about 9.8% yearly. The Dow was more conservative at 268%, around 6.7% annually, while the Nasdaq absolutely crushed it with 687% returns at 10.9% per year. Tech stocks really carried that one.

What caught my eye is how the stock market graph last 20 years shows the Nasdaq's concentration in technology and consumer discretionary stocks made all the difference. Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, and Nvidia were the heavy hitters. The Dow focused on blue-chip quality plays, so it was steadier but less explosive. When you look at the stock market graph last 20 years across all three, it's clear the S&P 500 sits in the middle - broad exposure, solid returns, less volatile than Nasdaq but better than Dow.

The takeaway from analyzing this stock market graph last 20 years? Reversion to the mean is real, as Bogle pointed out. All three have outperformed pretty much every other asset class over this period. For most investors, that S&P 500 exposure through an index fund seems like the safest bet for long-term wealth building.