ROI Calculator
With amount invested 10000 usd, value now 18500 usd, years held 6 years, roi comes to 10.80 % — annualised return. It is reached in 4 steps, the last of which is (pow(18500 / 10000, 1 / 6) - 1) * 100, and each one is printed on the page with its numbers filled in. The formula is the one published by SEC Investor.gov, not an approximation fitted to it.
Return on investment as a total percentage and as an annualised rate, so holdings of different lengths compare fairly.
Formula and sources checked · How we check
Amount invested 10000, Value now 18500, Years held 6 years
10.80 %
Annualised return for the example below. Editing a field recomputes the calculator below; this figure holds the answer the page was loaded with.
It is written into the HTML rather than drawn by a script, so a search engine reading this page without running JavaScript still finds an answer.
- Gain
18500 - 100008,500- Total return
8500 / 10000 * 10085 %- Annualised return (CAGR)
(pow(18500 / 10000, 1 / 6) - 1) * 10010.797 %- Years to double at that rate
log(2) / log(18500 / 10000) * 66.76 years
Worked example
$10,000 becoming $18,500 over six years is an 85% total return but only 10.8% a year. Total return always flatters a long hold — a 200% return over twenty years is 5.9% annualised, which trails a plain index fund.
How to work it out yourself
- 1.Enter what went in, what came out, and how long it took. A total return quoted without the time is not comparable to anything.
- 2.Read the CAGR rather than the total. A 60% return is excellent over two years and poor over twenty, and only the annualised figure says which.
- 3.The doubling line states the same fact the way people actually think: how long at this rate before the money is twice what it was.
The formula
- Gain
18500 - 10000 - Total return
8500 / 10000 * 100 - Annualised return (CAGR)
(pow(18500 / 10000, 1 / 6) - 1) * 100 - Years to double at that rate
log(2) / log(18500 / 10000) * 6
Source: SEC Investor.gov — evaluating investment performance, CFA Institute — Global Investment Performance Standards
Questions people actually ask
- Why annualise at all?
- Because total return says nothing about time. A 50% gain is excellent in two years and poor in fifteen. CAGR puts every holding on the same per-year footing, which is the only way to compare them.
- Does this account for money added along the way?
- No. CAGR assumes a single lump sum in and a single value out. For a portfolio you kept adding to, you need a money-weighted return (IRR) — CAGR will overstate your result whenever contributions arrived before a rise.
- Should I subtract inflation?
- For anything held more than a couple of years, yes. A 10.8% nominal return during 3% inflation is about 7.6% real, and the real figure is what tells you whether you actually got richer.
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