mispoken

this is not a correct statement. Start here and play with the numbers. https://dqydj.com/sp-500-return-calculator/

12.5% since November 2008
14.75% if you reinvested dividends

dont use my link as your sole source; dig in elsewhere and find if your research jives with this. I always run my annualized returns against VFINX which matches very closely to the above link.