What's my actual return on investment?

Gain minus cost over cost — simple ROI and annualized return, so you can compare projects of different lengths.

Amount invested ($)

Final value ($)

Hold period (years)

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Net gain ($)

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Simple ROI (%)

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Annualized return (%)

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Value multiplier (×)

How is ROI calculated?

ROI = (final − cost) / cost × 100. If $10k becomes $16k, that's $6k gain = 60% ROI. Simple as that — the number every marketing pitch wants to quote.

Why annualize?

A 60% ROI over four years is only ~10.4% a year; the same 60% in one year is a completely different outcome. Annualized return = (1+ROI)^(1/years) − 1 puts different-length investments on equal footing.

What about income along the way?

This is a start-to-end value comparison. If the investment paid cash flow (dividends, rent), add it to final value for total return; the calculation stays the same shape.

Does this account for risk?

No — ROI reports what happened, risk explains why. Two 10% annualized returns with very different volatility are different investments; this tool measures the outcome, not the ride.