What If I Invested

How It Works

The What If I Invested calculator takes a simple approach: given your chosen investment amount and start date, it divides your capital by the asset's price at that time to determine how many shares (or units of cryptocurrency) you would have purchased. It then tracks the value of that holding across each subsequent 1-month period, showing the portfolio value at every step.

The math is straightforward. If you invested $1,000 in Apple stock when it was trading at $27.50 per share, you would have purchased approximately 36.36 shares. One month later, if the price moved to $30.10, your portfolio would be worth $1,094.55 - a gain of about 9.5%.

This model assumes a single lump-sum investment with no additional contributions, no dividends reinvested, and no trading fees. It gives a clear picture of price appreciation alone.

Understanding the Chart

The animated line chart shows your portfolio value over time. Green coloring indicates periods where your investment is above your initial amount, while red indicates a loss compared to your starting capital.

Key data points displayed include:

• Portfolio value - the current dollar value of your holding at each point in time
• Total return - the absolute dollar gain or loss
• Percentage return - the percentage change from your initial investment

The animation plays through each 1-month period sequentially, giving you a sense of how the journey unfolded - including any dips along the way.

Sharing Your Results

Click "Record & Play" to capture the animated chart as a video. The tool uses the browser's built-in MediaRecorder API to create a .webm video file that you can download and share on social media or messaging apps.

Video recording works best in Chrome and Firefox. Safari has limited support for the MediaRecorder API and may not produce a video.

A Note on the Data

The prices used in this tool are approximate 1-month averages, adjusted for stock splits where applicable. They are drawn from publicly available historical data and are intended to illustrate general growth trends rather than precise day-to-day pricing.

Cryptocurrency prices (BTC, ETH) are inherently more volatile, and 1-month averages smooth out significant short-term swings. The actual peak-to-trough experience of holding crypto would have been considerably more dramatic than what the chart shows.