What a benchmark is, and why comparing yourself to one makes sense

A benchmark is simply a reference return — often a broad market index — that answers a specific question: "compared to a plain, low-effort alternative, how is my actual approach doing?" Without one, a good year in the markets and a good year of your own decisions look identical.

This matters most for the invested portion of your net worth, not liquid savings or a pension fund with its own separate rules — comparing those against a stock index would be comparing apples to a different kind of fruit entirely.

A benchmark isn't a scoreboard to beat every single month — short stretches of underperformance are normal and expected. It's a longer-term sanity check, which is why Patrimony compares cumulative growth over time rather than any single month in isolation.