It’s weird to the point I consider it deliberately misleading:

- Anybody wise enough to invest in the S&P 500 is likely also wise enough not to invest their entire nest egg in a single year, 20 years before retirement.

- The massive bulk of “ordinary American” 401(k) / IRA funds are in low-fee, no-tax-on-growth accounts. This chart has a nebulous “taxes and fees” component, which in this already artificial context makes even less sense to apply to annual returns.

- Counting only real growth without comparing to other investment options (real estate, bonds, cash under the mattress) fails to capture the relative value of diversified index funds. In short: Impossible to beat reliably no matter how you set the metric.