Investment Return Calculator
Turn a starting and ending value into total return, annualised return (CAGR), and a comparison against a benchmark.
Your details
Details
Cash paid out along the way and not reinvested
What a simple index fund returned over the same period
This calculator runs entirely on your device. Nothing you enter is uploaded, stored, or sold. How this works
Annualised return (CAGR)
8.59%
64.0% total over 6.0 years
Includes your inputs, the full breakdown, and every row of the table.
Profit
$16,000
Total return
64.0%
Money multiple
1.64×
vs. benchmark
-$3,289
The benchmark won
- Amount invested
- $25,000
- Value today
- $41,000
- Net value
- $41,000
- Profit
- $16,000
- Annualised return
- 8.59%
- Benchmark at 10.0%
- $44,289
What this means
- CAGR is the single smooth rate that would have taken you from the starting value to the ending value. The real path was almost certainly bumpier.
- This assumes one lump sum at the start. If you added money along the way, CAGR overstates or understates your result depending on when you invested — money-weighted return (IRR) is the correct measure there.
How the investment return calculation works
Total return tells you how much you made. Annualised return, or CAGR, tells you how fast you made it — and that is the number you can actually compare between investments held for different lengths of time.
Doubling your money sounds impressive until you learn it took twenty years, which works out to about 3.5% a year. The benchmark comparison exists for exactly this reason: the honest question is not whether you made money, but whether you made more than you would have by doing nothing clever at all.
Fees deserve their own line. A percentage point of annual cost sounds trivial and is not — over a few decades it compounds against you the same way returns compound for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between CAGR and average return?
Averaging annual returns overstates reality because losses hurt more than equivalent gains help. Up 50% then down 50% averages to zero but leaves you down 25%. CAGR reflects what actually happened to your balance.
Why does my result differ from my brokerage statement?
Brokerages usually report a money-weighted return that accounts for every deposit and withdrawal. This calculator assumes a single lump sum, so the two diverge whenever you have been adding money over time.
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Disclaimer. This calculator is provided for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, legal, medical, or engineering advice. Results are estimates based on the inputs you provide and the assumptions described above. Confirm any figure with a qualified professional before acting on it.