ROI Calculator
Calculate return on investment as a percentage and see the annualised compound rate over the holding period.
Quick answer: Calculate return on investment as a percentage and see the annualised compound rate over the holding period.
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Frequently asked questions
- What's a good ROI?
- Context-dependent. Public stock markets average ~7%/year (real). Private equity targets 15–25%. Marketing campaigns commonly aim for 5× ROAS. The right benchmark is what you could earn elsewhere with similar risk.
- What's the formula?
- ROI (%) = (gain − cost) / cost × 100, where gain is the final value or total return.
- Why is annualised ROI useful?
- Total ROI of 100% over 10 years is much weaker than 100% over 1 year. The annualised number lets you compare investments with different holding periods on equal footing.
- Does ROI include reinvested cash flows?
- Not in this simple version. If you got dividends or coupons that you reinvested, add them to 'final value'. For complex cash flows, use IRR (internal rate of return) instead.
- How is this different from ROAS?
- ROAS (return on ad spend) is a multiple, not a percentage: ROAS 4× = 400% revenue on spend. ROI is profit-based and percentage-based.
- Can ROI be negative?
- Yes — a negative ROI means the investment lost money. The calculator handles negative gains correctly.
- Are my numbers uploaded?
- No, everything is computed locally in your browser.
- Should I use pre-tax or post-tax ROI?
- Compare like-for-like. If you want to compare against another taxable investment, use post-tax. For internal pricing decisions, pre-tax is fine.
- What about inflation?
- This calculator gives you the nominal return. To get the real return, subtract the average annual inflation rate from the annualised ROI.
- Can I use ROI to compare a 6-month and a 5-year investment?
- Use the annualised ROI for that — for the 6-month one, set Years to 0.5.