Evaluate the real performance of your investments. Calculate total return percentage, absolute dollar gain, and Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) across any holding period.
Enter your values, then select Calculate Now
Total Gain = (Ending Value + Dividends) - Starting Value. Total Return (%) = (Total Gain / Starting Value) * 100%. Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) = [(Ending Value + Dividends) / Starting Value]^(1 / Years) - 1.
Your investment almost doubled in 5 years, delivering an exceptional 14.64% compounded annual return.
Enter the original purchase price or initial cost basis of the investment.
Input the current market value or final sale price.
Add any cash dividends or distributions received during the holding period.
Specify the number of years the investment was held.
Review the total dollar profit, overall percentage return, and annualized CAGR.
Total return is the simple percentage gain over the entire multi-year period. CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) is the smoothed annual rate at which your money grew every single year.
A 100% total return sounds great, but if it took 25 years to achieve, that is only a 2.8% annualized return (below inflation). Over 5 years, that same 100% is a fantastic 14.9% CAGR.
Dividends are real cash earnings. Failing to include dividends significantly understates your total portfolio return, as dividends have historically generated over 30% of total S&P 500 returns.
Yes. If your investment ends with a lower value than you started, CAGR will reflect the negative annualized loss percentage.
The standard benchmark is the S&P 500 index, which has achieved an annualized CAGR of approximately 10% over the past 30 years.
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