If You Invested In The S&P 500 When Joe Biden Became President, Here's How Much You'd Have Today

Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election to become the 46^th president of the U.S. The two candidates currently stand as the leading contenders for their respective parties for the 2024 presidential election.

Here's a look at how the stock market has performed since Biden took office and how it compares to the time Trump was in office.

What Happened: Biden was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2021 with an inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol building.

The markets rallied after Biden won the 2020 presidential election on Nov. 3, 2020, and continued upwards during his first year as president. The S&P 500 gained 37.4% during Biden's first year in office, which was the best one-year market return under a president since Harry Truman in 1945.

In 2022, the S&P 500 experienced a decline of over 19%, representing the largest annual drop since 2008.

The early years of Biden's presidency were met with several economic hardships including the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and a period of high inflation.

The economy remains a key issue for voters ahead of the 2024 election, and some have blamed Biden for not doing enough to help consumers who are struggling with higher prices and living expenses.

A recent Morning Consult poll of voters in the seven swing states determined the economy as the biggest factor for the 2024 election at 36% of the vote, ranking ahead of immigration (13%), democracy (11%) and abortion (6%) as the top issue.

The economy ranked first in each of the seven states and voters said they were more confident in Trump when it came to the economy.

The stock market's performance during previous presidencies has been a hot topic of late with Biden launching a campaign video that highlights the stock market indexes, like the S&P 500 hitting all-time highs.

The video is a response to Trump's prediction that there would be an economic downturn with Biden in office.

"Good one, Donald," Biden's X account said while sharing the video.

Related Link: Joe Biden Mocks Trump For Forecasting A Stock Market Collapse Akin To The Great Depression: ‘Good One, Donald’

Investing $1,000 in S&P 500: The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, which tracks the S&P 500 Index, opened for trading at $381.11 on Jan. 20, 2021, the day Biden was inaugurated as the 46^th president of the U.S.

A $1,000 investment could have purchased 2.62 SPY shares on inauguration day. The investment would be worth $1,330.33 today, based on a price of $507.76 for the SPY at the time of writing.

An investment of $1,000 would have increased by 33.0% since Biden assumed the presidency. This return comes shortly after the two-year anniversary of Biden taking office. The average yearly gain during Biden's tenure stands at around 15.9% for the past 25 months.

During Trump’s four years as president, the S&P 500 had average annual gains of 14.5%. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust was up a total of around 67% during the four years under Trump, making it one of the best four-year returns for the S&P 500 in recent history.

Although Biden can point to higher stock market prices and record peaks during his tenure, the stock market's overall performance and annual average returns under Trump still surpassed those during Biden's time in office.

As the 2024 presidential election approaches, the economy and stock market returns are likely to become key topics of discussion.

Investors who expect the stock market to continue to hit new highs in 2024 will likely look at broad market index ETFs like the SPY or the iShares S&P 500 ETF IVV or the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO.

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