What if you invested monthly in the Nasdaq 100 since 1999?
Beginning in 1999 just after QQQ's launch, this plan meets the dot-com peak early -- the longest window, including the worst possible start.
Investment conditions
Asset · Nasdaq 100 (QQQ)
Method · Recurring monthly investment
Period · 1999-07-01 ~ 2026-07-01
Amount · $222 / month
As of · 2026-07-01
Key metrics
These results do not reflect taxes. Based on historical data.
Risk & recovery
As important as returns. This service does not hide maximum drawdown or loss periods.
Maximum drawdown (MDD)
-48.2%
Largest drop from peak
Longest loss period
48months
Months in loss: 66
Recovery period
12months
Growth over time
Invested principal (dashed) and portfolio value (solid). Values below match the calculation.
Total invested $72,222 → Final value $885,740 (+1126.4%), Maximum drawdown (MDD) -48.2%
Why this period and asset
July 1999 is just after QQQ's launch (March 1999), the start of the longest window Nasdaq 100 real data allows. This plan hit the March 2000 dot-com peak early, after which the Nasdaq 100 collapsed to roughly -80% from its high. It then passed through the 2008 crisis, 2020 COVID, and the 2022 decline while capturing the smartphone, cloud, and AI growth eras -- a signature case of a very long plan that includes the worst start.
Interpreting the result
The lesson here is what path you travel when you keep contributing even after the worst possible start. Look honestly at the extreme early maximum drawdown (around -80%) and the very long loss and recovery period that followed. Reclaiming principal took many years -- a window that tested patience to its limit. Averaging kept buying at low prices after the peak and captured later growth, but we must not hide that the pain in between was very long. 'It recovered later' does not make the process comfortable.
Caveats & limits
A simplified calculation without taxes, fees, or currency effects. This is a special case starting at the worst moment; past recovery does not guarantee future recovery. Growth indices have extreme drawdowns, and as a dollar asset, returns in another currency depend on exchange rates.
Data sources & limits
- Price data source: Yahoo Finance / FinanceDataReader
- Collected on: 2026-07-23
- Effective trading date: 2026-07-01
- Price basis: 复权收盘价(已反映股息与拆股)
- Trading fees and taxes are not reflected — figures are pre-tax.
- Based on historical data; does not guarantee future returns.
Frequently asked questions
Why 27 years, not 30?
QQQ listed in March 1999, so the longest plan with real data is about 27 years. Earlier Nasdaq 100 needs separate proxy data.
With an early -80% drawdown, how long to recover principal?
After the dot-com peak, the index itself took a very long time to reclaim its prior high. Averaging's low-price buys can shift recovery timing, but the loss period was long.
Should we deliberately look at such a worst start?
Including the worst start is how you see the true size of drawdown and loss period honestly. Looking only at good starts makes it easy to underestimate risk.
Related scenarios
📋 结果基于历史数据计算,过去的收益不代表未来的收益。
📋 本服务旨在帮助理解投资、供教育之用,并非投资建议。