ROI Calculator
Calculate your real return on any investment — after fees, tax, and inflation. See how you compare to the benchmark.
Fees and inflation are silent destroyers of wealth. Your nominal return is almost never your real return.
1%
Annual fee on a $100k portfolio costs ~$28k over 20 years in lost compound growth
2.5%
Annual inflation quietly erodes purchasing power — a 10% ROI may only be 7.5% real
7–10%
Historical S&P 500 annual return — the benchmark most active investors fail to beat
What smart investors actually measure
Gross ROI is just the starting point. Real returns tell the full story.
The fee drag most investors ignore
A 1% annual management fee sounds trivial. Over 20 years on a $100,000 investment at 8% growth, it costs you over $46,000 in lost compound growth. Low-cost index funds exist precisely because this math is brutal over long periods.
Inflation: the invisible tax on returns
If inflation runs at 3% and your investment returns 6%, your real return is roughly 3% — not 6%. Over a decade, this difference compounds significantly. Any serious ROI analysis must account for inflation.
Why most active managers underperform
Over 15-year periods, more than 90% of actively managed US large-cap funds underperform their index benchmark net of fees. Benchmark comparison in this calculator shows exactly how much you need to outperform just to justify fees.
How the ROI Calculator Works
Formula
Gross ROI = (Final Value − Total Invested) / Total Invested × 100
CAGR = (Final Value / Total Invested)^(1/years) − 1
Net ROI = After annual fees compounded over holding period, minus tax on gains
Real ROI = Net ROI adjusted for inflation:
Real Rate = (1 + Net Rate) / (1 + Inflation Rate) − 1Enter your initial investment
The capital you put in at the start.
Enter the final value
What the investment is worth now, or what you expect at exit.
Set the holding period
How many years you held or plan to hold the investment.
Add fees and tax
Annual management fee, expense ratio, and estimated capital gains tax rate.
Compare to benchmark
Default is 7% (S&P 500 inflation-adjusted avg). See if your investment beat the index.
This calculator models the compound erosion of fees and inflation on your returns — something most ROI tools ignore completely. The line chart shows all four curves simultaneously: gross, net, real, and benchmark.
CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) is the most useful single number for comparing investments. A 100% ROI over 10 years is a 7.2% CAGR — very different from a 100% ROI over 2 years (41.4% CAGR).
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Calculators
Tools that work well alongside ROI analysis.
Future Value Calculator
Project what a lump sum or investment grows to over time.
Investment Calculator
Model portfolio growth with regular contributions.
Inflation Calculator
See how inflation erodes purchasing power over time.
Compound Interest Calculator
See how interest compounds on a lump sum over time.