The Bureau of Historic Losses · Counterfactual Division
What if you'd bought Telstra in 2020?
The dividend had already been cut, the NBN had turned Telstra into a wholesale tenant on its own network, and the shares sat in the mid-$3s. Two decades on from T2's $7.40, the maths still made T2 buyers wince.
$100 on 2020-01-01, worth today
A$194
As of 2026-06-12, $100 of Telstra bought at 2020's open (A$2.69) is worth A$194 — 1.94×.
total return · dividends reinvested · AUD
How much would $100 of Telstra bought in 2020 be worth today?
| You'd have put in | You'd have now | Multiple |
|---|---|---|
| A$100 | A$194 | 1.94× |
| A$1,000 | A$1,935 | 1.94× |
| A$10,000 | A$19,351 | 1.94× |
Lump sum on the year's first trading day, total return (dividends reinvested, splits adjusted), valued at the latest close. Past performance isn't a promise — it's a taunt.
What did Telstra do in 2020?
Opened
A$2.69
2020-01-01
Peaked
A$2.93
2020-01-16
Bottomed
A$2.11
2020-10-29
Closed
A$2.35
2020-12-30
Levels are dividend-adjusted, so historical figures look lower than the headline price of the day — that's the total-return lens, and it's the honest one.
Would steady buying have beaten going all in?
A$33,700 deployed as $100 a week from 2020-01-01, under four temperaments — same money, different nerves.
| All in on day one | A$65,213 |
| Steady weekly buys | A$52,308 |
| Sold dips, rebought rallies | A$51,425 |
| Traded it perfectly | A$55,806 |
“Traded it perfectly” requires knowing the future. Nobody knew the future.
The same $1,000, elsewhere
$1,000 at 2020's open, each valued at the latest close. Hindsight remains undefeated.
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