In the four charts below, I display four different measures of return in each chart: price, total, inflation-adjusted price and inflation-adjusted total. To those who argue that stock market indices should always be plotted as total return, i.e., with dividends reinvested, I suggest they also adjust the indexes for inflation to measure their real or true return values.

The effect of including dividends (total return) and the effect of inflation (real return) often cancel or neutralize each other, as can be seen in the rolling 10- and 20-year returns charts where the real total return tracks rather closely the price-only or nominal return – especially since 2008.