No you don't, the return is calculated to compare it to other ways you could have used the money. If you had put all your money in a sock and hid it under your bed in 2007, you'd still have the same amount of money. If you had bought at the very top, you'd have a 150% return. In both cases there's inflation, but calculating returns is done to compare the two and show that yes, even buying at the very top is usually better than keeping all your cash under a mattress.

There were also perma-bears right at the bottom tho May 2009 :Stocks jump after consumer confidence level surges. AKA: "What are these people smoking?! https://www.reddit.com/r/business/comments/8ndrd/stocks_jump_after_consumer_confidence_level/

The bottom was March 2009, remember