ROI Calculator
Understanding Return on Investment (ROI)
Return on Investment (ROI) is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. ROI measures the amount of return on a particular investment, relative to the investment's cost. To calculate ROI, the benefit (or return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment. The result is expressed in percentage or in ratio form.
How to Calculate ROI
The basic formula for ROI is:
ROI = ((Final Value of Investment - Initial Investment Cost) / Initial Investment Cost) * 100%
This formula gives you the percentage gain or loss on your investment over the entire period.
Annualized ROI
When you want to understand the average yearly return, you can calculate the annualized ROI. This is particularly useful when comparing investments with different holding periods. The formula for annualized ROI is:
Annualized ROI = ((1 + ROI)^(1 / Number of Years)) - 1
Where ROI is the total return (as a decimal, e.g., 0.5 for 50%).
Example Calculation
Let's say you invested $10,000 (Initial Investment) in a stock. After 5 years (Time Period), the value of your investment grew to $15,000 (Final Value).
- Initial Investment: $10,000
- Final Value: $15,000
- Time Period: 5 Years
First, calculate the total profit: $15,000 (Final Value) – $10,000 (Initial Investment) = $5,000 (Profit)
Next, calculate the total ROI: ($5,000 / $10,000) * 100% = 50%
Now, let's calculate the annualized ROI: Total ROI as a decimal = 0.50 Number of Years = 5 Annualized ROI = ((1 + 0.50)^(1 / 5)) – 1 Annualized ROI = (1.50 ^ 0.2) – 1 Annualized ROI ≈ 1.08447 – 1 Annualized ROI ≈ 0.08447 Annualized ROI ≈ 8.45%
This means your investment generated an average annual return of approximately 8.45% over the 5-year period.