ROI Calculator
Calculate return on investment as a total percentage and an annualized rate.
Return on investment (ROI) measures how much an investment gained or lost relative to what you put in, expressed as a percentage — but a raw total ROI figure alone can be misleading without accounting for how long the money was invested. A 50% return sounds identical whether it took one year or ten, yet those represent very different actual performance.
This calculator computes both figures: total ROI (the simple gain divided by initial investment) and annualized ROI (the equivalent compound annual growth rate that would produce the same total return over your specified holding period). Annualizing lets you fairly compare investments held for different lengths of time — a 30% total return over 5 years is a much weaker result than a 30% return over 1 year, even though the total ROI number looks the same.
Enter your initial investment, final value, and optionally the holding period in years to see both figures side by side.
How to use ROI Calculator
- 1
Enter your initial investment
Input how much you originally invested.
- 2
Enter the final value
Input what the investment is worth now (or was sold for).
- 3
Enter the holding period
Input how many years you held the investment to get an annualized rate.
- 4
Compare total vs. annualized ROI
Use annualized ROI to fairly compare investments held for different time periods.
Features
- Calculates both total and annualized ROI
- Enables fair comparison across different holding periods
- Instant recalculation as you adjust any input
Frequently asked questions
Common mistakes to avoid
- Comparing total ROI figures across investments held for very different time periods.
- Forgetting to account for fees, taxes, or dividends when calculating the true final value of an investment.
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