Totals don't add up

[babble]

Pick a random strategy and then pick a random historic year, add up all the months returns manually, they don't add up to the total.

Did anyone else notice this calculation error?

[robika]

Pick a random strategy and then pick a random historic year, add up all the months returns manually, they don't add up to the total.

Did anyone else notice this calculation error?

The total accounts for compounding all the monthly returns.

[hytid]

Pick a random strategy and then pick a random historic year, add up all the months returns manually, they don't add up to the total.

Did anyone else notice this calculation error?

My 4th grade math teacher had a policy of giving partial credit for incorrect test answers if you showed your work and she was able to determine that the error was due to a minor miscalculation rather than a fundamental misunderstanding of the subject matter.

[mjedlin66]

Be nice, Hytid. I get this question at least once a week. It is partly my fault because I haven't put together a page to demonstrate the math yet.

Babble, the short answer to your misunderstanding is that percentage gains have to be compounded over time. The website is correct.

I make mistakes all the time. But it is frustrating when someone immediately aserts that the website is wrong rather than asking "how does this work?" Those are two very different approaches to the same conflict.