{"url":"https://etfiq.com/portfolio/cash/","section":"portfolio","title":"Cash Drag Calculator: What Cash Costs a Portfolio | ETFIQ","description":"Holding 20% in cash for 10 years would leave $10,000 about $6,013 behind, at the S&P 500\u2019s and cash\u2019s last ten-year averages.","as_of":"Oct 27, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"WebApplication","@id":"https://etfiq.com/portfolio/cash/#tool","name":"Cash drag calculator","url":"https://etfiq.com/portfolio/cash/","applicationCategory":"FinanceApplication","operatingSystem":"Any","isAccessibleForFree":true,"offers":{"@type":"Offer","price":"0","priceCurrency":"USD"},"description":"At the last ten years\u2019 averages, holding 20% in cash for 10 years would leave $10,000 about $6,013 behind fully invested: the S&P 500 returned 15.6% a year and cash 2.3%, to Oct 27, 2026.","dateModified":"2026-10-27","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"browserRequirements":"The dated answer is in the page; the controls need JavaScript."},{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Where do the averages come from?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"SPY\u2019s and BIL\u2019s total returns over the ten years from Oct 28, 2016 to Oct 27, 2026, with every payout reinvested, as a yearly rate. BIL holds 1 to 3 month Treasury bills."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Is cash ever the better choice?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Over a single bad year, yes. Over ten years stocks have usually beaten cash, and this shows by how much on the last ten."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"My portfolio","item":"https://etfiq.com/portfolio/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Cash drag calculator","item":"https://etfiq.com/portfolio/cash/"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"Cash Drag Calculator: What Cash Costs a Portfolio","description":"Holding 20% in cash for 10 years would leave $10,000 about $6,013 behind, at the S&P 500\u2019s and cash\u2019s last ten-year averages.","url":"https://etfiq.com/portfolio/cash/","dateModified":"2026-10-27","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".lede",".faq"]},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"}}],"characters":1468,"truncated":false,"content":"ETFIQ / My portfolio / Cash drag calculator \n \n Data as of Oct 27, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.\n Cash drag calculator\n what holding cash cost over ten years\n At the last ten years\u2019 averages, holding 20% in cash for 10 years would leave $10,000 about $6,013 behind fully invested: the S&P 500 returned 15.6% a year and cash 2.3%, to Oct 27, 2026.\n Past averages are not a forecast.\n S&P 500 and cash total returns over the ten years to Oct 27, 2026, computed by ETFIQ from SPY and BIL.\n Questions people ask\n Where do the averages come from? SPY \u2019s and BIL \u2019s total returns over the ten years from Oct 28, 2016 to Oct 27, 2026, with every payout reinvested, as a yearly rate. BIL holds 1 to 3 month Treasury bills. Is cash ever the better choice? Over a single bad year, yes. Over ten years stocks have usually beaten cash, and this shows by how much on the last ten. Where to next\n Protect Move Own My portfolio Buffer ladder \n Cite this page. ETFIQ, Cash drag calculator, data as of Oct 27, 2026. https://etfiq.com/portfolio/cash/ Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms. The underlying files are at Open data .\n Other forms Plain ETFIQ, Cash drag calculator, data as of Oct 27, 2026. https://etfiq.com/portfolio/cash/ APA ETFIQ. (Oct 27, 2026). Cash drag calculator. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/portfolio/cash/ Markdown [Cash drag calculator (ETFIQ, Oct 27, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/portfolio/cash/)","source":"ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","license_text":"Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.","citation":"ETFIQ, Cash drag calculator, data as of Oct 27, 2026. https://etfiq.com/portfolio/cash/"}