Index Basics: Calculating an Index’s Total Return

Total return indices deserve more attention.  They more closely represent what an investor actually takes home: the return of an index, plus dividends paid and reinvested in the index.  Their better-known counterparts, which only track price changes in securities—often called “price return indices”1—get all the fanfare (see “Dow Hits 20,000 for the First Time”).  Total…

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