Annualised Return Calculator

This calculator turns a total investment return over several years into an annualised return, the single per-year figure that lets you compare investments held for different lengths of time on a fair basis. It is one of the most useful numbers an investor can work out, because raw figures can mislead. An investment that grew fifty percent sounds impressive until you learn it took ten years, while another that grew thirty percent in three years was actually doing far better. The annualised return strips that away by finding the steady compounding rate that would have taken your starting value to your ending value over the time you held it, which is the same idea as a compound annual growth rate. You enter the starting value, the ending value, and the number of years you held the investment, and the calculator returns the annualised return per year along with the total return over the whole period. Use it to compare funds, shares or property held over different timeframes, and to sense-check the headline numbers in fund reports, which are usually quoted as annualised returns. Note it assumes no money was added or withdrawn along the way; regular contributions would give a different money-weighted return. Past returns are no guarantee of future ones. This is general information, not financial advice.

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Assumes no contributions or withdrawals along the way. Annualised return compounds, so it is lower than the total return divided by the years. Past returns do not predict future ones.