Investment return calculator: project final value and growth from contributions, rate of return, compounding, and time horizon. Free, editable rates, no signup.
Updates automatically as you type.
Calculated in your browser; your inputs are not sent to us. Privacy
Results will appear here.
✓Basic automated checks passed. Formula accuracy is not established by these checks. See check scope and results
Calculation details
Every figure above is calculated locally in your browser from the assumptions shown. No inputs are sent anywhere. See the methodology section below for the formulas used.
Use this resultShare the current inputs, or ask ChatGPT to explain the calculation in context.
Ask an AI to explain this result
Share this result
Planning estimate only, not financial, tax, or legal advice. Verify assumptions and current rules before making decisions.
This tool runs in your browser. Your calculator inputs and results are never transmitted to us or to ad/affiliate partners. Ads and sponsored links may set third-party cookies to serve and measure them, but they never receive your calculation values. If you explicitly save a scenario, its permitted fields stay in local browser storage until you clear them. See our Privacy Policy.
Use this result
Share the current inputs or ask ChatGPT to explain the calculation in context.
Investment return calculator: project final value and growth from contributions, rate of return, compounding, and time horizon. Free, editable rates, no signup.
60.0% total return equals a 9.9% CAGR over 5 years.
Transparent methodology
How this calculator works
Reviewed August 2026 · BoringToolsKit Editorial Team
BoringToolsKit. “Investment Return Calculator.” boringtoolskit.com/investment-return-calculator/ (reviewed August 2026). Free to reference in articles, syllabi, and answer posts with a link.
Privacy: Inputs and results stay in this browser. Any future sponsored recommendation or advertisement will be clearly labeled and kept separate from the calculation.
Worked example: $10,000 to $16,000 over 5 years
Say you invest $10,000 and it is worth $16,000 five years later. Total return is the gain divided by the starting value: ($16,000 - $10,000) / $10,000 = 60.0%. That is the whole-period figure and ignores how long it took.
CAGR spreads the same gain across the years: (16,000/10,000)^(1/5) - 1 = 1.6^0.2 - 1. Since 1.6^0.2 = 1.0986, the CAGR is 9.86%, displayed as 9.9%. Check it by compounding: 1.0986^5 = 1.6000, so $10,000 grown at 9.86% annually for 5 years lands on $16,000.
Notice why CAGR matters: an investment that jumped to $16,000 in year one and then sat flat has the same 60% total return and the same 9.9% CAGR as one that climbed steadily. The calculator reports the smoothed rate, not the path it took to get there. Enter a holding period of 0 or a starting value of 0 and the tool returns an error instead of dividing by zero.
What the numbers leave out
The 9.9% CAGR in the example above is nominal. At 3% inflation, the real return is (1.0986/1.03) - 1 = 6.66%, so roughly a third of the headline gain is purchasing-power illusion over a 5-year span. At 7% inflation the real CAGR falls to 2.68%.
The calculation also assumes no money moves in or out. A $10,000 start that becomes $16,000 after you added $2,000 along the way is not a 60% return; the gain is only $4,000 on $12,000 deployed, and a time-weighted CAGR would need the contribution dates. Any dividends or interest counted inside the ending value inflate the result relative to a pure price return.
Taxes and fees are absent too. A 60% gain on $10,000 is $6,000 before costs; selling in a taxable account at a 15% long-term capital gains rate keeps $5,100, and a 1% annual expense drag would have cut the CAGR to about 8.8% (1.0986 x 0.99 = 1.0876). Compare returns across investments only after subtracting these, or the ranking can flip.
