Enter what you invested, what you got back and how long you held it to see your return on investment and the annualized ROI. Works for shares, property, a business or anything else, in your currency.
$
$
What you sold it for, or what it's worth now
0–11, on top of the years
Costs and income (optional)
$
Commissions, fees, stamp duty: added to what you put in
$
Dividends, interest or rent while you held it
Return on investment
25%
Annualized ROI
9.34% a year
Gain
$2,500.00
Money multiple
1.25×
You put in $10,000.00 and got back $12,500.00: a gain of $2,500.00, or 25%. Over 2 years 6 months, that's the same as earning 9.34% a year, compounded.
How to use the ROI calculator
Enter the amount invested: what you paid.
Enter the amount returned: what you sold it for, or what it's worth today.
Enter how long you held it in years and months to get the annualized figure.
Optional: add fees and costs (they count as money put in) and income you received while holding it, like dividends or rent.
ROI formula
ROI = (amount returned + income − amount invested − costs) ÷ (amount invested + costs)
Annualized ROI = ((amount returned + income) ÷ (amount invested + costs))1 ÷ years − 1
The first tells you how much you made in total; the second spreads it over the years you held the investment, with compounding, so you can compare it with an interest rate.
Worked example
You invest $10,000 and sell for $12,500 after 2 years and 6 months (2.5 years).
Gain = $12,500 − $10,000 = $2,500. ROI = $2,500 ÷ $10,000 = 25%.
Annualized: 1.251 ÷ 2.5 − 1 = 9.34% a year.
With $100 of fees and $400 of dividends, you put in $10,100 and got back $12,900: ROI 27.72%, or 10.28% a year.
Tips
Include every cost: brokerage, stamp duty, maintenance and taxes all reduce your real return.
The annualized ROI uses the same formula the SEC sets for funds' average annual total return, P(1 + T)n = ERV (Form N-1A, Item 26). An estimate for comparing investments, not financial advice.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate ROI?
ROI = (what you got back − what you put in) ÷ what you put in, shown as a percentage. If you invest $10,000 and sell for $12,500, the gain is $2,500 and the ROI is $2,500 ÷ $10,000 = 25%. Add fees to what you put in, and dividends, interest or rent to what you got back.
What is annualized ROI?
It's the yearly rate that, compounded, turns what you put in into what you got back over the time you held the investment: (1 + ROI)^(1 ÷ years) − 1. A 25% return over 2 years 6 months is 9.34% a year. It's the same formula as CAGR, and it lets you compare investments held for different lengths of time.
Is a higher ROI always better?
Not on its own. 10% in 6 months (21% a year) beats 30% in 5 years (5.39% a year), even though the second ROI is three times bigger. Compare annualized figures, and think about risk: a steady return and a risky one with the same ROI aren't equally good.
What's a good ROI?
There's no single answer: it depends on the risk you took and what else you could have earned. A common check is to compare your annualized ROI with a safe alternative, such as a savings account or government bond rate over the same period, and with inflation, which the inflation calculator shows.
When should I use IRR instead of ROI?
ROI assumes one amount went in at the start and one came out at the end. If you added or took out money along the way, for example a monthly SIP, rent or dividends paid at different times, the internal rate of return (IRR or XIRR) gives a fairer yearly figure because it counts when each amount moved.