Planning · Illustrative tool
The time machine
Pick an amount, a starting year and an illustrative mix, and follow a hypothetical pot through real market history — the falls and the recoveries alike. Showing the dips, not just a smooth line, is the honest way to see why staying invested has tended to matter more than timing.
Illustrative — not advice, not a real portfolioEnded at
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Data: a representative, illustrative annual total-return series — a generic equity index, a government-bond series and cash — not a real product, portfolio or named index. GBP, nominal, gross of fees. Provenance and licence: data notice.
About this tool
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. What happened before tells you nothing certain about what comes next. This tool replays a representative, illustrative history — a generic equity index, a government-bond series and cash, none of them a real product, portfolio or named index — to show a shape, not to predict one.
It is illustrative and hypothetical: not financial advice, not a personal recommendation, not a forecast or a guarantee. Figures are shown gross of fees — real charges would reduce them — and in nominal pounds, so they ignore inflation and any currency effect of holding overseas assets. The window is not cherry-picked: the series runs to its end from any start year you choose, with a floor so a very short, flattering window is never the default. The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you invested. Your own plan is agreed with Abhineet, looking at your full circumstances. Our full risk warnings and disclaimer apply.