Investment Return Calculator: ROI, CAGR & XIRR
Calculate the return on any investment. Use simple mode for a single initial-to-final value, or XIRR mode for irregular contributions and withdrawals over time.
How This Investment Return Calculator Works
Simple mode calculates two related but distinct figures: Absolute Return, which is simply (final value − initial value) ÷ initial value, and CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate), which is (final value ÷ initial value) raised to the power of (1 ÷ years) minus 1. Absolute return tells you the total percentage gain over the whole holding period regardless of how long it took, while CAGR normalizes that gain into an equivalent constant annual rate, which is the only fair way to compare investments held for different lengths of time.
XIRR mode solves for the single annualized rate of return that makes the net present value of an irregular series of cash flows equal to zero, using each cash flow’s exact date rather than assuming even annual or monthly intervals. This is the correct method whenever you’ve made multiple contributions or withdrawals at different times, since simple CAGR only works for a single lump sum in and a single lump sum out.
The calculator solves the XIRR equation using the Newton-Raphson method, which converges quickly for well-behaved cash flow patterns, with an automatic bisection fallback for cases where Newton-Raphson fails to converge. Enter every contribution as a negative amount (money leaving your pocket) and every withdrawal or the final value of your holding as a positive amount (money you’d receive if you cashed out today).
What this tool does
How to use it
Choose your mode
Pick Simple mode for a single initial-to-final value, or XIRR mode if you’ve added money at multiple points in time.
Enter your figures
In Simple mode enter initial and final value with dates. In XIRR mode, list each cash flow with its exact date and amount.
Mark inflows & outflows
In XIRR mode, use negative numbers for money invested and positive numbers for money received or the current value.
Calculate
Click Calculate to see your annualized return, total gain, and other key statistics.
Frequently Asked Questions
ROI (Return on Investment), often used interchangeably with Absolute Return here, measures total percentage gain over the entire holding period without regard to time: a 50% return could come from one year or ten years. CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) converts that total return into an equivalent constant annual growth rate, making it possible to fairly compare a two-year investment against a ten-year investment. A $10,000 investment that grows to $20,000 has a 100% ROI regardless of timeframe, but its CAGR is about 26% over three years versus about 7.2% over ten years.
XIRR (Extended Internal Rate of Return) calculates the annualized return for a series of cash flows that occur on irregular dates and in irregular amounts, such as multiple SIP contributions, top-ups, and partial withdrawals. CAGR only works cleanly for a single investment made at one point in time and cashed out at another; if you’ve added or removed money along the way, XIRR is the mathematically correct way to measure your actual annualized return.
XIRR finds the discount rate r that makes the net present value of all cash flows equal to zero: the sum of each cash flow divided by (1+r) raised to the power of (days since the first cash flow ÷ 365). Since this equation generally can’t be solved algebraically, the calculator uses the Newton-Raphson iterative method, which repeatedly refines a guess for r using the function’s slope, falling back to a bisection search if Newton-Raphson doesn’t converge cleanly.
XIRR treats cash flows from your perspective as an investor: money leaving your pocket to make an investment is a negative (outflow), and money coming back to you, whether through withdrawals, dividends, or the final value if you sold today, is a positive (inflow). Getting the signs right is essential, since XIRR requires at least one negative and one positive cash flow to find a valid solution, mixing up the signs will produce a meaningless or impossible result.
This varies enormously by asset class and risk level. Broad equity markets have historically returned a CAGR in the range of 7 to 10% over multi-decade periods in nominal terms, government bonds have historically returned considerably less, and real estate returns vary widely by location and leverage used. Individual investments and short time periods can show CAGRs far outside these ranges in either direction, so always weigh a CAGR figure against the volatility and risk taken to achieve it.
Yes, the calculator works for any asset where you can identify an initial value (or a series of contributions) and a final or current value, whether that’s shares, cryptocurrency, a rental property, or a small business investment. For a rental property, remember to include any income received (rent) and expenses paid (renovations, taxes) as additional cash flows in XIRR mode for an accurate total return figure.
No, by default the calculator only uses the values and dates you enter. If you want a return figure net of fees or taxes, subtract them from your final value or add them as separate outflows before calculating. If you received dividends or other income along the way, you can add each dividend as a small positive cash flow on its payment date in XIRR mode to include it in your true annualized return.
A negative CAGR simply means your final value is lower than your initial value, indicating a loss over the period measured, which is mathematically valid and calculated the same way as a positive CAGR. If your final value is exactly zero (a total loss), CAGR is mathematically undefined as negative 100%, since no compounding rate can turn a positive amount into exactly zero over any finite period other than a complete loss.
Yes, if your cash flows span a very short period (a few weeks or months) with a meaningful gain or loss, the annualized XIRR can appear extreme even though the absolute dollar gain was modest, because annualizing naturally amplifies short-period returns. Always look at both the XIRR percentage and the actual dollar total invested and received to get the full picture, rather than judging a short-term investment purely on its annualized rate.