The phrase "beating the market" means earning an investment return that exceeds the performance of the Standard & Poor's 500 index. Commonly called the S&P 500, it's one of the most popular benchmarks of the overall U.S. stock market performance.
Everybody tries to beat it, but few succeed.
The Barriers
Investment fees are one major barrier to beating the market. If you take the popular advice to invest in an S&P 500 index fund rather than on individual stocks, your fund's performance should be identical to the performance of the S&P 500, for better or worse. But investment fees will be subtracted from those returns, so you won't quite match it, never mind beat it. Look for index funds with ultra-low fees of 0.05% to 0.2% a year, and you'll get close to equaling the market, though you won't beat it.
Taxes are another major barrier to beating the market. When you pay tax on your investment returns, you lose a significant percentage of your profit. The capital gains tax rate is 15% to 20%, unless your income is very low. And that's the tax on investments held for at least one year. Stocks held for a shorter-term are taxed as ordinary income.
Investor psychology presents a third barrier to beating the market. Perversely, most people have a tendency to buy high and sell low because they're inclined to buy when the market is performing well and sell out of fear when the market starts to drop. This one at least is within your control. Learn how to analyze a stock and consider the company's potential for future gains. It's not foolproof, but at least you'll be buying for sound reasons.
Risk Is Key
One way to try to beat the market is to take on more risk, but while greater risk can bring greater returns it can also bring greater losses.
You might also be able to outperform the market if you have superior information. There are few ways that an individual investor can possess superior information unless they are company insiders, and trading on nonpublic information is a serious crime called insider trading.
Defined more broadly, though, you may have superior information based on your expertise in an industry or a product. There's no crime in investing in what you know.
Some investors have made fortunes through what appear to be superior analytical skills. Household names like Peter Lynch and Warren Buffett achieved their successes by picking individual stocks. Many individuals you've never heard of have attempted similar strategies and failed. Even most professional mutual fund managers can't beat the market.
Sometimes It's Just Luck
Meaning no disrespect, Lynch and Buffett may have just been exceptionally lucky, even if they are financial whizzes. Highly regarded economists have shown that a portfolio of randomly chosen stocks can perform as well as a carefully assembled one.
Yes, you may be able to beat the market, but with investment fees, taxes, and human emotion working against you, you're more likely to do so through luck than skill. If you can merely match the S&P 500, minus a small fee, you'll be doing better than most investors.
FAQs
Sometimes It's Just Luck
Can anybody beat the market? ›
It is relatively common to beat the market for 1–3 years at a time. That can largely be explained by luck. But the data clearly shows that even professional fund managers are unable to beat the market consistently over a longer period of time, like 10–15 years.
Can we beat the stock market? ›
Figuring out whether you can beat the market is not easy one, but the answers generally vary depending on who you ask. The average investor may not have a very good chance of beating the market. Regular investors may be able to achieve better risk-adjusted returns by focusing on losing less.
What percentage of people beat the market? ›
Over time, the odds of you beating the market only diminish. To prove this, let's look at an example: We saw from the data above that an investor has about a 75% chance of underperforming the market in any given year which means you have a 25% chance of beating the market in any given year.
Can you beat the market picking stocks? ›
Even stock pros rarely beat the market
Because the average person isn't equipped with an understanding of financial statements, technical analysis or how macrotrends affect sector performance, picking stocks can be a risky endeavor.
Do any funds beat the S&P 500? ›
For the 14th year in a row, the S&P 500 did better than the majority of actively managed U.S. large-cap stock funds. A majority of active funds focused on U.S. large-cap stocks failed to beat the S&P 500 index last year, extending their track record of underperformance, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Are day traders beating the market? ›
A University of Berkeley study found that 75% of day traders quit within two years. The same study found that the majority of trades, up to 80%, are unprofitable. While some day traders end up successful and make a lot of money, they are the exception rather than the norm.
Has anyone beaten the stock market? ›
Some investors have made fortunes through what appear to be superior analytical skills. Household names like Peter Lynch and Warren Buffett achieved their successes by picking individual stocks. Many individuals you've never heard of have attempted similar strategies and failed.
Do money managers beat the market? ›
Less than 10% of active large-cap fund managers have outperformed the S&P 500 over the last 15 years. The biggest drag on investment returns is unavoidable, but you can minimize it if you're smart. Here's what to look for when choosing a simple investment that can beat the Wall Street pros.
Does anyone get rich off the stock market? ›
Can You Make a Lot of Money in Stocks? Yes, if your goals are realistic. Although you hear of making a killing with a stock that doubles, triples, or quadruples in price, such occurrences are rare, and/or usually reserved for day traders or institutional investors who take a company public.
High volatility: Stocks are inherently volatile assets, subject to fluctuation in market sentiment, economic conditions, and company-specific factors. This portfolio would be likely to experience significant price swings, which can lead to substantial losses during market downturns.
What would it be worth if you invested $1000 in Netflix stock ten years ago? ›
So, if you had invested in Netflix ten years ago, you're likely feeling pretty good about your investment today. A $1000 investment made in March 2014 would be worth $9,728.72, or a gain of 872.87%, as of March 4, 2024, according to our calculations. This return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.
Who is the most successful stock picker? ›
Warren Buffett is one of the greatest investors of all time. Berkshire Hathaway, the company he's managed since 1965, has returned 19.8 percent annually through the end of 2023 during Buffett's leadership, nearly doubling the return of the S&P 500 on an annualized basis over that time period.
Can you actually beat the market? ›
It's definitely possible to beat the stock market. A small number of people will probably to do it over the next 20 years.
Can AI predict the stock market? ›
The machine learning models can predict stock returns with remarkable accuracy, achieving an average monthly return of up to 2.71% compared to about 1% for traditional methods," adds Professor Azevedo. The study's findings highlight the potential of such technology for the financial market.
Do financial advisors beat the market? ›
But even the best financial advisors are at the whim of the market. Most professional investors who try to beat the market actually underperform it over a given time period. And those who do manage to outperform the market over one time period can rarely outperform it again over the subsequent time period.
Who has consistently beat the market? ›
While past performance doesn't predict future returns, the Vanguard Growth ETF has a history of beating the market. Over the past 10 years, it's earned total returns of more than 114% -- compared to 81% for the S&P 500.
What percent of active traders beat the market? ›
From 2010 through 2021, anywhere from 55 percent to 87 percent of actively managed funds that invest in S&P 500 stocks couldn't beat that benchmark in any given year. Compared with that, the results for 2022 were cause for celebration: About 51 percent of large-cap stock funds failed to beat the S&P 500.
Can a financial advisor beat the market? ›
In other words, even professionals can't beat the market with consistency. That means that the right expectation is typically to target a portfolio that tracks the market as closely as possible with a balance between risk (stocks) and stability (bonds) that matches your goals and risk tolerance.
How do I know if I'm beating the market? ›
The market average can be calculated in many ways, but usually a benchmark – such as the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average index – is a good representation of the market average. If your returns exceed the percentage return of the chosen benchmark, you have beaten the market.
