What is ROI?
Return on investment — the profit (or loss) on something expressed as a percentage of what it cost you. It turns a raw dollar gain into a figure you can compare fairly across investments of very different sizes.
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ROI Calculator
Return on investment as a percentage, plus the net profit, from cost and current value.
ROI = (Current Value − Cost) / Cost × 100
Frequently asked questions
How is ROI worked out?
Take the current value, subtract what you paid, then divide that gain by the cost and multiply by 100. Buy for $1,000, now worth $1,250, and the ROI is (1250 − 1000) / 1000 × 100 = 25%.
What does a negative ROI mean?
The investment is worth less than you paid, so you are sitting on a loss. An ROI of −20% means a fifth of your money has been wiped out on paper. Selling would lock that loss in.
How do I read the chart?
Two bars sit side by side: what you put in and what it is worth now. If the current-value bar is taller, the gap above the invested bar is your profit; if it is shorter, the shortfall is your loss. The big ROI figure summarises that gap as a percentage.
Where is this used in real life?
Shares — $5,000 of stock now worth $6,500 is a 30% ROI. Property — comparing a renovation's cost against the value it added. Business — judging whether a marketing spend earned its keep. Because ROI ignores how long it took, pair it with a time-aware measure like CAGR for multi-year holdings.