Investment Return Calculator

How it works

The annual rate of return is the single yearly rate at which every amount you put in, grown to the valuation date, would equal everything you took out plus what the investment is worth now, each also grown to that date. It is a money-weighted return: money that was invested for longer counts for more.

Each amount is placed on its own date, so deposits and withdrawals at irregular times are handled exactly. Time between dates is counted in days and divided by 365, the convention a spreadsheet's XIRR function uses, so the answer matches XIRR.

Because it depends on when you added or removed money, this return can differ from a fund's published return, which is time-weighted and ignores your own timing.

Formula

Σ amountₖ × (1 + r)^((valuation date − dateₖ) ÷ 365) = value now
  (amounts put in positive, taken out negative)
gain = value now + total taken out − total put in
r is found numerically; no formula gives it directly

Example

You put in $5,000 on 15 January 2022, $2,000 on 1 July 2022 and $3,000 on 10 March 2023, took out $1,500 on 20 June 2024, and the account is worth $11,800 on 31 December 2025. You put in $10,000 and took out $1,500, so you gained $3,300, and the annual rate of return is 8.88%.

Microsoft's XIRR example checks the method: $10,000 invested on 1 January 2008, with $2,750, $4,250 and $3,250 taken out on 1 March 2008, 30 October 2008 and 15 February 2009 and $2,750 left on 1 April 2009, is a return of 37.34% a year.

Assumptions and limitations

• Enter every deposit and withdrawal; leaving one out changes the answer. Reinvested dividends are not deposits, since the money never left the investment.
• The value now should be after fees. Taxes count only if you paid them out of the investment and enter them as withdrawals.
• When money goes in after money has come out, more than one rate can satisfy the equation. The calculator reports one of them, and says so when none can be found.
• A return over less than a year is stated as an annual rate, which can look extreme for a short, volatile period.
• The result is for information and planning and is not financial, tax or investment advice.

Frequently asked questions