Return on investment (ROI) calculator
Find the gain, ROI and annualized return of an investment.
Formula
How it works
ROI is the gain as a percentage of the amount invested. The annualized return spreads that growth evenly over the years so investments of different lengths can be compared.
Worked example
The same calculation with the default values:
- Amount invested 10,000
- Final value 14,500
- Years held 3
- net gain = 14,500 − 10,000 = 4,500
- ROI = 4,500 ÷ 10,000 × 100 = 45%
- annualized = (14,500 ÷ 10,000)^(1 ÷ 3) − 1 = 13.18512%
Result: Net gain: 4,500.00 USD · Return on investment: 45% · Annualized return: 13.19%
Common mistakes
- Comparing ROI figures across investments with very different time periods without also computing the annualized figure - a 20% return over 5 years is very different from 20% in one year, which is why both numbers are shown.
- Forgetting to include all costs of the investment (fees, taxes on gains, maintenance) in the initial investment figure - omitted costs overstate the real return.
- Treating ROI as risk-adjusted - it measures return only, not the risk taken to achieve it; two investments with the same ROI can carry very different risk.
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