What does Investment Return Calculator do?
Investment return calculator: total ROI and annualised return (CAGR) from start value, end value and years, plus money-weighted return with contributions.
- Price
- Free
- Account
- Not required
- Processing
- Entirely in your browser; your data and files are not uploaded
- Works on
- Any modern browser on desktop, tablet or phone
- Category
- Financial Calculators
How to use the investment return calculator (roi and cagr)
- Enter what the investment was worth at the start and what it is worth now (including reinvested income).
- Enter how many years you held it; decimals are fine.
- If you added a regular amount each month, enter it so the return is not overstated.
- Read the total return (ROI), the annualised return and the working.
Worked example
$10,000 grows to $18,000 in 5 years
ROI = ($18,000 − $10,000) ÷ $10,000 = 80%. CAGR = (18,000 ÷ 10,000)1/5 − 1 = 12.47% a year. If you had also added $200 a month (an extra $12,000) and ended with $25,000, you would have invested $22,000 for a $3,000 gain: ROI 13.64% and a money-weighted return of about 3.55% a year.
How it works
ROI = (end value − total invested) ÷ total invested, where total invested = start value + contributions. With no contributions the annualised return is the compound annual growth rate (end ÷ start)1/years − 1. With monthly contributions it is the money-weighted return: the monthly rate i that solves start × (1 + i)n + c × ((1 + i)n − 1) ÷ i = end, found by bisection and annualised as (1 + i)12 − 1.
Assumptions
- Contributions are equal and made at the end of each month.
- Dividends and interest are reinvested and included in the end value.
- Taxes, fees and inflation are not deducted unless they are already reflected in the values you enter.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ROI and CAGR?
ROI is the total gain as a share of what you invested, regardless of time. CAGR spreads that growth evenly across the years as a compound annual rate, so you can compare investments held for different lengths of time.
Why not use CAGR when I added money?
CAGR from start to end value would count your new contributions as growth. The money-weighted return separates them, giving the steady annual rate your money actually earned.
Is the annualised return what I will earn each year?
No. It is an average that would produce the same result. Actual yearly returns go up and down.
Limitations
- Contributions must be regular monthly amounts; irregular deposits or withdrawals need a full XIRR calculation.
- Not financial advice.