Investment ROI & CAGR Calculator: Solve the Return

$

What you put in (or the price you bought at)

$

What it is worth now (or when you sold)

years

Whole years between the two values

Primary return

10.000%

CAGR (compound annual)

Return comparison

Total return (HPR)
61.051%
Annualized (HPR ÷ years)
12.210%
CAGR (compound annual)
10.000%
Gain / loss
$6,105.10

CAGR is the geometric average; the simple annualization ignores compounding — they agree only at one year.

Investment ROI & CAGR Calculator — Solve the Return from Begin and End Values

Most calculators project a balance forward from a rate you guess. This one runs the other way: tell it what you put in, what it is worth now, and how many whole years you held it, and it solves the return. You get three answers side by side — total return (HPR), the simple annualized return (HPR ÷ years), and CAGR, the compound annual growth rate — so the gap between arithmetic and geometric averaging is visible instead of hidden.

Two extra modes cover the real world: with monthly contributions the tool solves the money-weighted annual return from the begin value, every deposit, and the end value; with dividends or interest it reports the income-adjusted return beside the price-only return. It reads as the inverse of a growth calculator: there is no rate input anywhere — the rate is the answer.

The return formulas

CAGR=(EP)1/n−1\text{CAGR} = \left(\frac{E}{P}\right)^{1/n} - 1
HPR=E−PP\text{HPR} = \frac{E - P}{P}
E=P(1+m)N+C⋅(1+m)N−1mE = P(1+m)^{N} + C \cdot \frac{(1+m)^{N} - 1}{m}
E+D−PP\frac{E + D - P}{P}

HPR is the change over the base; CAGR spreads that change geometrically across the holding period; the contribution mode solves for the monthly rate m that reproduces the end value from the begin value plus every deposit; the income line adds cash received to the numerator.

P = begin value · E = end value · n = holding period in years · C = monthly contribution · N = n × 12 months · m = monthly rate · D = total cash income.

How it works

  1. Enter the begin value, the end value and the holding period to compare HPR, simple annualized return and CAGR.
  2. Switch to contributions mode to add a monthly deposit and solve the money-weighted annual return.
  3. Switch to dividends mode to add cash income and see the income-adjusted return beside the price return.

Worked examples

10000 → 16105.10 over 5 years gives 61.051% total, 12.210% simple annualized and 10.000% CAGR. 20000 → 15000 over 3 years gives -25.000% total and -9.144% CAGR. 10000 plus 200/month over 5 years ending at 27279.41 means 22000.00 invested and a 6.000% money-weighted annual return. 10000 → 11000 over 2 years with 500 of income is 10.000% price return but 15.000% with income (7.238% CAGR).

What v1 covers

Return arithmetic on the two entered values, plus the monthly-contribution solve and the income-adjusted variant. Everything runs locally in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

Frequently asked questions

CAGR vs total return (HPR) — what's the difference?

HPR is the whole gain as a percentage of what you put in, with no time dimension. CAGR restates that same gain as a steady annual rate, which is what lets you compare a 3-year hold against a 5-year hold fairly.

Why is the simple annualized return different from CAGR?

Simple annualization just divides HPR by the number of years and ignores compounding, so it overstates multi-year returns. CAGR compounds, so it is always lower than the simple figure for a positive multi-year gain — they agree only at one year.

What does the money-weighted return mean?

When you add money at different times, a single begin-to-end ratio cannot describe your result. The money-weighted return is the monthly rate that reproduces your end value from the begin value plus every deposit, annualized — the same idea as an IRR.

How are dividends handled?

Enter the total cash income you received over the whole period. The tool reports the income-adjusted return beside the price-only return; if you reinvested the income, fold it into the end value instead so it is not counted twice.

How accurate is this calculator?

The lump and income lenses are closed-form and exact to three decimals on the entered figures; the contribution solve converges to machine precision or reports that no finite answer fits. Real-world fees, taxes and timing differences are outside this model.