Time does the heavy lifting.
Watch what regular saving becomes when time and compounding are on its side. Adjust the rate, the contribution, the charges or the years — the maths is honest either way, and it shows you the answer in today’s money as well as tomorrow’s.
A calculator can show you the arithmetic. It can’t tell you what rate is reasonable for you, what you can afford to contribute, or what happens if markets fall early. That is what the conversation is for.
Arrange a conversationPast performance: what these markets actually did
Five complete calendar years, 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2025. Total return in sterling unless stated.
| Index | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Annualised | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global sharesMSCI World Index, net dividends, GBP | 22.94% | −7.83% | 16.81% | 20.79% | 12.75% | 12.5% | |
| UK sharesFTSE All-Share Index, total return, GBP | 18.32% | 0.34% | 7.92% | 9.47% | 24.02% | 11.7% | |
| UK house pricesNationwide HPI, capital only, no rental income | 10.4% | 2.8% | −1.8% | 4.7% | 0.6% | 3.3% | |
| UK giltsFTSE Actuaries UK Conventional Gilts All Stocks, total return | −5.16% | −23.83% | 3.69% | −3.32% | 5.03% | −5.3% | |
| UK inflation for comparisonONS CPI, 12-month rate to December | 5.4% | 10.5% | 4.0% | 2.5% | 3.4% | 5.1% |
Reference period. Five complete 12-month periods, 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2025. The annualised column is the compound annual rate over those same five years, calculated from the figures shown.
Sources. MSCI World Index (GBP, net dividends) — MSCI index factsheet. FTSE All-Share and FTSE Actuaries UK Conventional Gilts All Stocks total returns — index returns as reported in tracker fund factsheets (State Street and BlackRock respectively). UK house prices — Nationwide House Price Index, December values. Inflation — ONS series D7G7.
Currency. Global share returns are shown in sterling. A large part of the return on overseas investments comes from currency movement rather than the underlying shares, and returns may increase or decrease as a result of currency fluctuations.
Charges. These are index returns, shown gross. They take no account of platform fees, fund charges, dealing costs, adviser fees or tax, all of which reduce what an investor actually receives. Use the charges box in the calculator above to see the effect — over long periods it is substantial.
Not like for like. House prices are capital growth only: no rent is included, and no allowance is made for stamp duty, legal and agency fees, maintenance, void periods, mortgage interest or tax. Property is also not readily realisable. It is shown for context, not as a comparable investment return.
A five-year window is short. These particular five years included a bond market fall of a kind not seen in decades, an inflation spike, and an unusually strong run for global equities. A different five years would look very different. Do not read the annualised column as a forecast.
Cash and US shares are not shown. A fair retail cash comparison would need the rate savers were actually offered rather than a wholesale benchmark, and a sterling S&P 500 total return series would need to be licensed from the index provider. Rather than publish figures I cannot properly source, I have left both out.