What if you invested $1,000 in 20+ Year Treasury (TLT) in 2005? (Inflation-Adjusted)

TLT · Bond · Adjusted to 2026 dollars using BLS CPI-U data

Using BLS CPI-U data, cumulative inflation from 2005 to 2026 totals 72%. Your $1,000 in 20+ Year Treasury (TLT) grew to $1,871 in raw dollar terms, but in real purchasing power terms that gain is equivalent to $1,088 in constant 2005 dollars. That reflects a +0.4% per year real annualized return after accounting for price changes over 21 years.

Nominal final value

$1,871

+87.1% total return

Real value (2005 dollars)

$1,088

+8.8% real total return

Real annualized return

+0.4%

vs. +3% nominal annualized

Cumulative CPI-U inflation since 2005: 72% (1 dollar in 2005 = $1.72 in 2026)

Year-by-Year (Inflation-Adjusted)

$1,000 in 20+ Year Treasury (TLT) since 2005, values in constant 2005 dollars

Year	Nominal Value	Real Value (2005 $)
2005	$1,000	$1,000
2006	$1,035	$1,004
2007	$1,045	$985
2008	$1,189	$1,079
2009	$1,356	$1,238
2010	$1,253	$1,114
2011	$1,289	$1,102
2012	$1,776	$1,487
2013	$1,767	$1,449
2014	$1,681	$1,358
2015	$2,210	$1,786
2016	$2,087	$1,662
2017	$2,016	$1,571
2018	$2,112	$1,596
2019	$2,156	$1,592
2020	$2,640	$1,919
2021	$2,791	$1,931
2022	$2,655	$1,683
2023	$2,045	$1,249
2024	$1,909	$1,132
2025	$1,804	$1,049
2026	$1,871	$1,088

Inflation adjustment uses BLS CPI-U annual data, deflated to 2026 dollars. Nominal stock data from Yahoo Finance (split-adjusted closing prices). Real values are expressed in constant 2005 purchasing-power dollars. For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. See our methodology and full disclaimer.