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Calcora

Saving and investing

Investment Return Calculator

Measure an investment's gain or loss, total return, and annualized return, and see how much fees reduced it.

Your investment

Enter what you invested and what it is worth now, or what you received when you sold it.

What do you want to measure?

The return on one amount invested and its value at the end.

The amount you invested at the start.

What the investment is worth now, or what you received when you sold it.

Only include fees that are not already reflected in the ending value. Leave blank for $0.

Investment period unit

How long you held the investment. Needed for annualized return.

Private by design

Your investment amounts, values, fees, and period stay in your browser and are not sent to Calcora.

How this investment return calculator works

  1. Choose what to measure

    Simple return for one amount invested. Contributions & withdrawals if you also added or took out money along the way.

  2. Enter the values

    What you invested, what it is worth now or what you received, any fees not already in that value, and, if you know it, how long you held it.

  3. Gain or loss and return

    What you put in is subtracted from what you got back or still hold, after fees. The result is divided by what you put in.

  4. Annualized return, when it applies

    With a period and no money added or withdrawn, the calculator also gives the equivalent compound rate per year.

Understanding investment return

Total return

The full gain or loss over the whole period, as a percentage of what you put in. It says nothing about how long that took.

Gain vs loss

A gain means you got back, or still hold, more than you put in; a loss means less. Losses are shown with a minus sign, and losing everything is −100%.

How fees affect return

Fees reduce what you keep. Account values are often already after fees; if yours is, leave the fees field blank so they are not counted twice.

Contributions and withdrawals

Money you add raises the amount the return is measured against. Money you take out counts as returned to you, even if you withdrew more than the investment is worth now.

Total return vs annualized return

$10,000 to $13,310 over 3 years

Total return, for the whole period
+33.10%
Annualized return, per year
+10.00%

Both describe the same result. Total return is the full-period gain; annualized return is the equivalent average compound rate per year over the period. They are not the same thing, and the annualized rate does not mean the investment gained that much every year.

The annualized formula

Annualized return equals net ending value divided by initial investment, to the power of 12 divided by the number of months, minus 1.

This is the compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Over periods shorter than a year, it can make small gains or losses look large, because it assumes the same rate continues and compounds for a full year.

Contributions, withdrawals, and timing

When money moves in or out along the way, when it moved changes the yearly rate. A contribution made in the last month had almost no time to grow, yet it counts fully in what you contributed. Two investors with the same totals can have very different annual returns.

Why there is no annualized return here

With contributions or withdrawals, Calcora cannot calculate a true annualized return without knowing when each one happened. That needs dated cash flows and a method such as the internal rate of return (IRR or XIRR) or the time-weighted return. This calculator reports the net return on contributions instead and leaves annualized return out.

Example investment return calculation

Two investments, calculated the same way as the calculator above.

Simple return, with fees

$10,000.00 invested, worth $13,500.00 after 3 years, with $500.00 of fees not already in that value.

Ending value
$13,500.00
Fees
−$500.00
Initial investment
−$10,000.00
Gain
+$3,000.00

Total return: +30.00% (+$3,000.00 ÷ $10,000.00). Annualized: +9.14% a year. Fees of $500.00 lower the return from +35.00% to +30.00%, a difference of 5.00 percentage points. Annualized, that is +10.52% a year before fees and +9.14% after.

With contributions and withdrawals

$10,000.00 invested, $5,000.00 added later, $2,000.00 taken out, and $16,000.00 at the end.

Ending value
$16,000.00
Withdrawals
+$2,000.00
Initial investment
−$10,000.00
Additional contributions
−$5,000.00
Net gain
+$3,000.00

Net return on contributions: +20.00% (+$3,000.00 ÷ $15,000.00 contributed). No annualized return: the dates of the contribution and the withdrawal are not known.

Assumptions

  • The ending value is what the investment is worth at the end of the period, or what you received when you sold it.
  • Fees are subtracted from the ending value. Enter only fees that the ending value does not already reflect; account values are often already after fees.
  • Total return is the gain or loss divided by the initial investment.
  • With contributions and withdrawals, the net return on contributions is the net gain or loss divided by everything you contributed (the initial investment plus additional contributions). Withdrawals count as money returned to you.
  • Annualized return is the compound annual growth rate: (net ending value ÷ initial investment)^(12 ÷ months) − 1. It is the steady yearly rate that would give the same result, not what happened in any particular year.
  • Annualized return is not given when contributions or withdrawals occurred, because their dates are not known; when nothing is left after fees; or when no period is entered.
  • Taxes, inflation, and income paid out separately (such as dividends you did not reinvest) are not included unless they are part of the values you enter.
  • Results measure the values you entered. They do not judge or forecast the investment, and they are not investment advice.

How Calcora calculates

  • Every calculator explains the formula behind its result in plain language.
  • Calculators are designed to run in your browser, so your inputs are not sent to Calcora.
  • Results help you understand your options. They are not financial advice.
Read the methodology

Frequently asked questions

How is total return calculated?
Total return = (ending value − fees − initial investment) ÷ initial investment. The ending value is what the investment is worth now or what you received for it, and fees are only those not already reflected in that value. A negative result is a loss.
What is annualized return?
It is the compound annual growth rate: the single yearly rate that, compounded over the investment period, turns the initial investment into the net ending value. It makes returns over different periods comparable, but it does not mean the investment gained the same amount each year.
Why is annualized return unavailable with contributions or withdrawals?
Because the timing of those cash flows changes the annual rate, and the calculator does not know their dates. A true annual rate needs every dated cash flow and a method such as the internal rate of return (IRR or XIRR) or the time-weighted return. The calculator shows the net return on contributions instead.
Should I enter fees?
Only fees that the ending value does not already reflect, such as a sales commission you paid separately. Account and statement values are often already after management fees; entering those fees again would count them twice.
What if I withdrew more than the investment is worth now?
That is fine. Withdrawals count as money returned to you, so an investment you mostly cashed out can show a gain even with a small or zero ending value.
Why does a short period show such a large annualized return?
Annualizing assumes the same rate continues for a full year and compounds. A 1% gain in one month annualizes to about 12.7%. Over periods shorter than a year, small gains or losses look larger once annualized.
Does Calcora store my information?
No. The calculation runs in your browser. Your investment amounts, values, fees, and period are not sent to Calcora or saved, and they are cleared when you leave or reload the page.

Related calculators

Looking ahead instead of back? The Compound Interest Calculator projects growth at a rate you assume, and the Savings Calculator plans monthly savings toward a goal.