ROI Calculator
Work out the return on any investment: stock, property, a business project. Includes fees and income, and converts the total into an annualized rate so you can compare fairly.
Gain of $2,450 on $10,050.
For comparison: $10,050 growing at 7% a year for 3.0 years would be $12,312.
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Get a plain-English read of the result above: what drives it, what to try changing. It sends only the numbers in this calculator and your question. Educational only, not financial advice.
Same ROI, very different investments
“I made 50%” sounds great, but it says nothing about how long it took. Spread the same total return over more years and the yearly rate collapses, eventually below what an index fund might have done.
Annualized rate for a 50% total return.
The ROI formula
ROI = (final value + income − cost − fees) ÷ (cost + fees) × 100
Annualized ROI = (1 + ROI)1 ÷ years − 1
Worked example
You buy shares for $10,000 plus a $50 commission, receive $500 of dividends and sell for $12,000 three years later. Total cost $10,050; total returned $12,500; gain $2,450. ROI = 2,450 ÷ 10,050 = 24.4%. Annualized: 1.2441/3 − 1 = 7.5% a year.
Limits of simple ROI
- It assumes one purchase and one sale. If you added money over time, a money-weighted return (IRR/XIRR) is more accurate.
- It ignores risk: a 20% return on a leveraged bet is not the same as 20% from a bond fund.
- Taxes and inflation aren’t included unless you subtract them from the final value.
Have only a start and end value? The CAGR calculator is built for that, and the future value calculator projects forward at a chosen rate.
Questions people ask
How do you calculate ROI?
ROI = (final value − cost) ÷ cost × 100. Buy for $10,000, collect $500 in dividends and sell for $12,000: gain is $2,500, so ROI is 25%. Include every cost (fees, commissions) in the cost and every payout in the final value.
What is annualized ROI?
Annualized ROI converts a total return into an equivalent yearly rate: (1 + ROI)^(1/years) − 1. A 50% return over 5 years is 8.45% a year, but over 2 years it is 22.5% a year. Only annualized figures can be compared across investments held for different lengths of time.
What is a good ROI?
It depends on risk and time. For comparison, the US stock market (S&P 500) has averaged roughly 10% a year before inflation over the long run, and high-yield savings accounts pay far less with no risk to principal. Compare annualized ROI against an alternative of similar risk.
Can ROI be negative?
Yes. If you get back less than you put in, ROI is negative: $10,000 that becomes $8,000 is −20%. You would then need a +25% gain just to get back to even.
What does a 30% ROI mean?
You made back your money plus 30% of it: $10,000 invested returned $13,000. Whether that is good depends on how long it took: 30% in one year is excellent, while 30% over ten years is about 2.7% a year.
How do I calculate ROI on a stock including dividends?
Add the dividends you received to the sale value (or current value), subtract what you paid including commissions, and divide by what you paid. Use the “Dividends / income” field for this.
How do I compare two investments with ROI?
Compare annualized ROI, not total ROI, because the holding periods usually differ. Tick “Compare with a second investment” to see both side by side.
ROI vs CAGR: what is the difference?
ROI is the total percentage gain over the whole period. CAGR (compound annual growth rate) is the annualized version of that same number. Annualized ROI and CAGR are the same thing when there is a single investment at the start.