gizmobench

ROI Calculator

Enter what you put in, what it is worth now and how long you held it, and the return comes back two ways: the total percentage and the annualised one. Both are printed with the formula that produced them and your own figures inside it, which is the part most of these pages leave out, the gain in money sits beside them, and anything the holding cost you comes off that gain first. It looks backwards only: there is no growth assumption on the page, no rate box and no schedule of money added later, so it works a stated formula on figures you already have and nothing else. It runs in your browser, with no account and nothing sent anywhere.

Return on investmentReadyEnter what you put in and what it is worth now
Put in
Worth now
Held for (years)
Costs

Held for is in years: enter 0.5 for six months. Costs are anything you paid out that is not already taken off what it is worth now, and an empty box is none.

Worked examples

  • 12,500 to 20,500over 3 years
    +64.0% · 17.9% a year
  • A loss9,000 to 7,200 over 1.5 years
    −20.0% · −13.8% a year
  • Held under a year5,000 to 5,400 over six months
    +8.0% · held under a year, so no yearly figure
A total return is not a yearly one. 64% over three years is 17.9% a year, because the yearly figure is the compound one: the rate that, applied three times over, turns 12,500 into 20,500. It is not the total divided by the years, which would read 21.3% and would be too high. Both figures are printed above with the formula that produced them, and a period under a year gets no yearly figure at all: compounding two months of movement into a whole year states a return for ten months that have not happened.
Backward looking, on purpose. Every box is a figure you already have, and there is none here for a growth assumption, a market average or money added part way through. Exact arithmetic on the figures you enter: net gain over what you put in, and an annualised figure from the compound formula printed beside it. It knows nothing you do not type, so fees, taxes, dividends reinvested and money added part way through are not in the number, and it makes no forecast of what any investment will do next.

Common questions

How is return on investment worked out?
Take what came back, subtract what you put in and anything it cost you, then divide that gain by what you put in. Put 12,500 in, get 20,500 back and pay nothing in costs, and the gain is 8,000: 8,000 divided by 12,500 is 0.64, which is a 64% return. The page prints that line with your own figures in it, (20,500 − 12,500) ÷ 12,500, so the answer can be checked rather than taken on trust.
What is the difference between the total return and the annualised one?
The total is the whole percentage over the whole holding. The annualised figure is the compound rate that gets you there one year at a time: 64% over three years is 17.9% a year, meaning the rate which, applied three years running, turns 12,500 into 20,500. Dividing the total by the years instead gives 21.3%, which is too high, and that mistake is why two investments held for different lengths of time cannot be compared on their totals. Both figures are on the page with the formula that produced each one.
Why is there no annualised figure for less than a year?
Because producing one means compounding a part year into a whole one, which states a return for months that have not happened. A 4% gain over two months annualises to just over 26% a year, and nothing about the two months supports that claim. The tool leaves the figure out and prints the reason where it would have been, so the total return still stands on its own. Enter a year or more and the annualised figure appears.
What does this calculator leave out?
Everything you do not type. Fees and commission are in the answer only if you enter them in the Costs box, tax is never in it, and dividends or interest already received are not either: add them to what it is worth now if you want them counted. Money paid in part way through is the one case the simple formula genuinely cannot hold, because each instalment was invested for a different length of time. For a running balance with regular deposits, the APY calculator does that arithmetic instead.
Does this page say anything about what an investment will do next?
No. There is no rate box, no growth assumption and no market figure anywhere in it, and nothing on the page is advice. It computes a formula on four figures you already have and stops there, which is the whole design: a page that guessed at what comes next would be making a claim about your money that nobody can support.
Is anything uploaded, and does it need an account?
Neither. The arithmetic runs in the page itself, there is no account and nothing you type leaves your browser. The four boxes are remembered in your own browser so the page opens where you left it, and clearing your browser data forgets them.

Exact arithmetic on the figures you enter: net gain over what you put in, and an annualised figure from the compound formula printed beside it. It knows nothing you do not type, so fees, taxes, dividends reinvested and money added part way through are not in the number, and it makes no forecast of what any investment will do next.