Personal Rate Of Return Calculator
Your fund’s published return is not your return. If you added money along the way, or pulled some out, your personal rate of return depends on when the cash moved, not just where the balance started and ended. This calculator measures your actual performance three ways: plain CAGR for untouched investments, a contribution-adjusted rate for regular savers, and the Simple Dietz method that approximates your true internal rate of return.
How to use this calculator
Use the first tab when you know your starting balance, ending balance, and how long the money was invested. If you added money regularly, enter the annual contributions and the tool adjusts for them. Use the Simple Dietz tab when you want the dollar-weighted truth: enter the beginning and ending values plus your net contributions (deposits minus withdrawals) and it computes the return your money actually earned, with an optional annualization.
The formulas
CAGR = (FV ÷ PV)1 ÷ t − 1, for investments with no cash flows in or out.
With contributions: (FV ÷ (PV + total contributions ÷ 2))1 ÷ t − 1, treating contributions as arriving mid-period on average.
Simple Dietz: (V1 − V0 − C) ÷ (V0 + C ÷ 2), where C is net contributions. It approximates the internal rate of return and is exact when contributions landed mid-period.
Worked examples
$10,000 growing to $15,000 over 5 years with no contributions is an 8.45% compound annual growth rate, rated very good performance. Add $1,000 of contributions per year and the same endpoints give a 3.71% rate of return with contributions, because much of the growth came from your deposits, not the market. Simple Dietz: start at $10,000, end at $15,000, with $2,000 of net contributions over one year, gives 27.27% (($15,000 − $10,000 − $2,000) ÷ ($10,000 + $1,000)); over two years that annualizes to 12.82%.
What competitors miss
Pure CAGR calculators ignore contributions entirely, so anyone who saved regularly gets a flattering but wrong number. Brave Calculator adjusts for contributions but offers no dollar-weighted method. XIRR tools are exact but demand every dated cash flow, which most people do not have handy. Nobody puts CAGR, a contribution-adjusted rate, and the Simple Dietz approximation on one page with plain-language guidance on which to use. The Dietz tab here is the practical middle ground: honest about cash-flow timing without needing a spreadsheet of dates.
Frequently asked questions
What is personal rate of return?
It is the return you earned, accounting for the timing of your deposits and withdrawals. Two investors in the same fund can have very different personal returns if one bought before a rally and the other bought after.
How is personal rate of return different from CAGR?
CAGR assumes no money moved in or out; it only compares start and end values. Personal rate of return adjusts for contributions, so it reflects what your money actually did.
What is the Simple Dietz method?
A dollar-weighted return: (ending value − beginning value − net contributions) ÷ (beginning value + net contributions ÷ 2). It treats contributions as arriving mid-period and closely approximates the true internal rate of return.
What is XIRR and do I need it?
XIRR is the exact internal rate of return for dated cash flows, computed by iteration in a spreadsheet. Use it when you have every deposit and withdrawal date; use Simple Dietz when you only know the totals.
Why is my personal return lower than my fund’s published return?
Usually timing. If you added most of your money after the fund had already risen, your dollars missed the early gains. The published return is time-weighted; yours is dollar-weighted.
Should I include my contributions in the calculation?
Yes, that is the whole point of a personal return. Excluding them answers a different question: how the investment itself performed, not how you performed.
What is a good personal rate of return?
As a rough guide this calculator rates 12%+ excellent, 8%+ very good, 5%+ good, 3%+ average, and 0%+ below average. Compare against a relevant index over the same period rather than chasing an absolute number.