Investment Returns Calculator
Calculate investment returns, ROI and annualised growth rate (CAGR) for stocks, ETFs and savings. Compare against CPF, STI ETF and S&P 500. Free.
Investment Returns Calculator Tool
| Year | Portfolio Value | Total Gain | Return % |
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How to Use the Investment Returns Calculator
Choose your calculation mode
Select Simple Return for a quick percentage return, CAGR for annualised growth rate over multiple years, or ROI for cost-based return on investment. Each mode is suited to different scenarios.
Enter your initial investment and final value
Input the amount you originally invested and what your investment is worth today (or at the end of the period). For ROI mode, enter your total cost and net profit separately.
Set the time period in years for annualised returns
In CAGR mode, use the slider or number input to set the investment period. This converts your total return into an annualised figure that's comparable to CPF rates and ETF benchmarks.
Compare your return against CPF and stock market benchmarks
The CAGR mode shows your result alongside four reference bars: CPF OA (2.5%) and CPF SA (4%) — the current CPF Board rates for Q3 2026 — plus rounded long-run equity figures for the STI ETF (7%) and the S&P 500 (10%). The published numbers behind those two bars are 8.6% a year for the SPDR STI ETF since its April 2002 launch (SSGA factsheet, 31 July 2026) and 9.9% a year for the S&P 500 over 1928–2025 (Damodaran, NYU Stern); both move with the market and are shown as rounded reference points only.
Investment Returns in Singapore — What the Numbers Actually Mean
CAGR vs Simple Return: Why the Difference Matters for Long-Term Investors
A 100% return sounds spectacular — but whether it was earned in one year or ten years makes an enormous difference to your actual wealth-building trajectory. Simple return tells you the total percentage gain from start to finish, but it says nothing about how long that took. This is where Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) becomes essential for any serious investor.
CAGR smooths out the year-to-year volatility to give you the consistent annual growth rate that would have produced the same end result. Financial advisers and fund managers always quote CAGR precisely because it enables apples-to-apples comparisons: a fund returning 80% over 10 years has a CAGR of about 6.05%, while one returning 80% over 5 years has a CAGR of approximately 12.47% — a meaningful difference for future projections.
There is also a subtler mathematical concept here called volatility drag, or the difference between arithmetic mean returns and geometric mean returns. If a stock rises 50% one year and falls 33% the next, the arithmetic average is 8.5% — but your actual portfolio is back to exactly where it started (1.5 × 0.67 = 1.005, essentially flat). CAGR captures this real-world compounding effect, which is why it will always be lower than a simple average of annual returns during volatile periods. The S&P 500 has averaged approximately 10% p.a. CAGR since 1957, but individual years have ranged from -38% (2008) to +38% (1995) — illustrating why geometric means matter.
The Singapore Investor's Benchmark: CPF, STI ETF and the S&P 500
For Singapore investors, the natural yardstick is CPF. The Ordinary Account (OA) pays 2.5% per annum — its legislated floor, which has applied since July 1999 — and the Special Account (SA) pays 4% per annum, a floor the Government has extended to 31 December 2026 (CPF Board, rates for 1 July–30 September 2026). Both are backed by the Singapore Government, which makes them the risk-free benchmark any other investment has to beat.
Beyond CPF, the Straits Times Index is the local equity benchmark. State Street's SPDR STI ETF (ES3) reports an annualised return of 8.6% since its launch on 11 April 2002 and 11.0% over the ten years to 31 July 2026, with dividends reinvested (SSGA factsheet). Those figures rise and fall with the market — a strong recent year lifts every trailing average — which is why the benchmark bar in the calculator uses a rounded 7% rather than the latest print.
The S&P 500, with dividends reinvested, compounded at about 9.9% a year in USD terms over 1928–2025 (Damodaran, NYU Stern historical returns dataset), but a Singapore investor's SGD result also depends on the exchange rate over the holding period. The CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) allows OA savings above S$20,000 to be invested in approved instruments; anything invested that way gives up the guaranteed 2.5% and must beat it after fees to have been worthwhile.
"The S&P 500 compounded at about 9.9% a year over 1928–2025 — but roughly three points of that was US inflation, so the real return is nearer 7%. Still remarkable, but not as dramatic as headlines suggest."
How Inflation Eats Your Returns: Real vs Nominal Returns in ASEAN
Every return figure you see is a nominal return — it does not account for inflation. The real return is what actually matters for your purchasing power, and it is calculated simply as nominal return minus inflation rate. Singapore's headline inflation has averaged about 2% a year over the past two decades (SingStat CPI-All Items), meaning a CPF SA return of 4% translates to a real return of roughly 2% — a much less impressive figure.
Inflation at 3% p.a. will halve your purchasing power in approximately 24 years — meaning the S$1 million you retire with today is worth the equivalent of S$500,000 in today's dollars by the time you reach your mid-80s. This is why a long-term retirement plan usually needs growth assets (equities, REITs, property) alongside cash and CPF, and why every figure this calculator produces should be read against inflation before you judge it.
What the STI actually returned, and what CPF guarantees
The SPDR Straits Times Index ETF has returned 8.6% a year since April 2002, dividends reinvested (SSGA factsheet, 31 July 2026) — the benchmark bar rounds this to 7% because trailing averages move with the market.
CPF Ordinary Account (OA) pays 2.5% p.a. — its legislated floor, in force since July 1999 — and the Special Account pays 4%, a floor extended to 31 December 2026 (CPF Board).
The Rule of 72 is a mental math shortcut: divide 72 by your annual return rate to find the approximate years to double your money. At 7% CAGR, roughly 10.3 years.
Berkshire Hathaway's per-share market value compounded at 19.8% a year from 1965 to 2023 against 10.2% for the S&P 500 — an overall gain of 4,384,748%, turning $1,000 into about $43.8 million (Berkshire 2023 shareholder letter).
Volatility drag: a portfolio that rises 50% then falls 33% has an arithmetic average return of 8.5% a year but ends almost exactly where it started (1.5 × 0.67 ≈ 1.005) — CAGR reports the truth, the average does not.
The Rule of 72 works because ln 2 ≈ 0.693: the exact doubling time at rate r is ln 2 ÷ ln(1 + r), and 72 ÷ r tracks it closely for rates between about 2% and 12%.
The S&P 500 compounded at about 9.9% a year over 1928–2025 with dividends reinvested (Damodaran, NYU Stern) — the benchmark bar rounds this to 10%.
CAGR is the geometric mean return: (Final ÷ Initial)1/years − 1. It is the one constant annual rate that would have produced the same end value, which is why fund fact sheets quote it.
Fees compound too: a fund charging 1.5% a year more than an index tracker turns a 7% gross return into 5.5% net — and over 20 years that is the difference between S$3.87 and S$2.92 per dollar invested.
Inflation at 3% p.a. halves purchasing power in 24 years — meaning S$1 million today is worth approximately S$500,000 in today's dollars after 24 years, making real return calculations essential.
Frequently Asked Questions
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CAGR stands for Compound Annual Growth Rate. It represents the rate at which an investment would have grown if it grew at the same rate every year. The formula is: CAGR = (Final Value / Initial Value)^(1/Years) − 1 × 100. For example, if S$10,000 grows to S$20,000 in 10 years, the CAGR is (2)^(0.1) − 1 = 7.18% per year. CAGR is the most widely used metric for comparing investment performance because it accounts for time and compounding.
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The floor for a Singapore investor is the CPF OA's 2.5% — anything riskier has to beat it after fees to have been worth the risk. For a diversified equity portfolio the reference points are the SPDR STI ETF's 8.6% a year since 2002 (SSGA, 31 July 2026) and the S&P 500's 9.9% a year over 1928–2025 (Damodaran) — both long-run averages that hide large year-to-year swings. Subtract inflation (about 2% a year in Singapore over the past two decades, per SingStat) to judge the real result. Any product promising materially more than these benchmarks, consistently, deserves scepticism.
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CPF pays 2.5% (OA) and 4% (SA) with no risk of capital loss — rates set and guaranteed by the Singapore Government (CPF Board, Q3 2026). Equity benchmarks have compounded faster over long periods — 8.6% a year for the SPDR STI ETF since 2002, 9.9% for the S&P 500 over 1928–2025 — but with year-to-year volatility and the possibility of loss, and the trailing figures change every month. The comparison is between a guaranteed 4% and a higher expected but uncertain return; how much of each you hold is a question of horizon and risk tolerance, not of which number is bigger.
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The Rule of 72 is a simple mental math shortcut to estimate how long it takes for an investment to double at a given annual growth rate. Divide 72 by the annual return percentage: 72 ÷ 7% = ~10.3 years to double. At CPF OA's 2.5%, your money doubles in about 28.8 years. At S&P 500's ~10%, it doubles in roughly 7.2 years. The rule works because ln(2) ≈ 0.693, and 72/r is a close approximation of ln(2)/(ln(1+r/100)) for typical return rates between 2% and 20%.
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ROI (Return on Investment) measures the total percentage return relative to cost, without accounting for time: ROI = (Net Profit / Cost) × 100. CAGR accounts for the time period and expresses returns as an annualised rate. For example, a 100% ROI over 5 years has a CAGR of about 14.87%, while a 100% ROI over 10 years has a CAGR of only ~7.18%. Use ROI for simple, time-agnostic comparisons; use CAGR when comparing investments held over different time periods.
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The Straits Times Index (STI) ETF tracks the top 30 companies listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), including DBS, OCBC, UOB, Singtel, and Capitaland. There are two main STI ETFs: ES3 (SPDR STI ETF by State Street) and G3B (Nikko AM STI ETF). Both trade on SGX and can be bought through any Singapore brokerage account. OA savings above S$20,000 can be invested in CPFIS-approved instruments through a CPFIS agent bank, not through an ordinary brokerage account.
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To include dividends in your return calculation, add total dividends received to your final portfolio value before entering it in this calculator. For example, if you invested S$10,000 and your portfolio is now worth S$12,000 but you also received S$800 in dividends, enter S$12,800 as your final value. This gives you the total return (capital gain plus income). This approach works for Simple Return and CAGR modes. For reinvested dividends, your brokerage's portfolio tracker should show the DRIP-adjusted final value automatically.
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The real return is your investment return after accounting for inflation: Real Return ≈ Nominal Return − Inflation Rate (or more precisely, (1 + Nominal) / (1 + Inflation) − 1). Singapore's average inflation is approximately 2–3% p.a. If your portfolio earns 7% nominally and inflation is 2.5%, your real return is roughly 4.4%. This matters for retirement planning: to maintain purchasing power, your investments must at minimum match inflation. A savings account paying 0.3% in a 2.5% inflation environment is actually losing 2.2% in real purchasing power annually.
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This depends on your risk tolerance, investment horizon, and financial goals. The CPF OA's 2.5% is guaranteed and risk-free — a significant advantage, and the hurdle any CPFIS investment must clear after fees. Over 20-year-plus horizons, diversified equity benchmarks have compounded well above 2.5%, but with the possibility of loss along the way and no guarantee the pattern repeats. A common approach: keep sufficient CPF for housing purposes, maximise SA top-ups for the guaranteed 4%, and invest remaining cash (outside CPF) in diversified index funds.
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No. CAGR compares one starting value with one ending value over a stated number of years, so it is exact only for a single lump sum. If you added or withdrew money during the period, the result blends your contributions with market growth and will overstate or understate your true rate of return. For a portfolio with regular contributions, use a money-weighted rate of return (XIRR in a spreadsheet, which dates each cash flow) — or run this calculator on each lump sum separately.
Method & sources
How it computes
Simple return = (final − initial) ÷ initial; CAGR = (final ÷ initial)^(1/years) − 1 (the geometric mean annual return); ROI = net profit ÷ cost, annualised as (1 + ROI)^(1/years) − 1; Rule-of-72 doubling time = 72 ÷ rate. Benchmark bars use CPF Board rates (OA 2.5%, SA 4%) and rounded long-run equity figures (STI 7%, S&P 500 10%).
What this tool implements
- CAGR is the geometric mean — valid for a single lump sum only; contributions require a money-weighted return (stated in FAQ)
- CPF OA 2.5% (legislated floor since Jul 1999) and SA 4% (floor extended to 31 Dec 2026) taken from CPF Board for Q3 2026
- Equity benchmark bars are rounded reference points; the page quotes the published figures behind them with dates (SPDR STI ETF 8.6% p.a. since Apr 2002 as of 31 Jul 2026; S&P 500 9.9% p.a. 1928–2025)
- Nominal returns throughout; real return ≈ nominal − inflation, Singapore CPI ≈ 2% p.a. over 20 years
Sources
- Central Provident Fund Board. Earning attractive interest — CPF interest rates 1 Jul–30 Sep 2026. https://www.cpf.gov.sg/member/growing-your-savings/earning-higher…
- State Street Global Advisors. SPDR Straits Times Index ETF (ES3) factsheet, 31 July 2026 — annualised return since inception 11 Apr 2002: 8.56%. https://www.ssga.com/library-content/products/factsheets/etfs/apa…
- Damodaran A. Historical Returns on Stocks, Bonds and Bills: 1928–2025. NYU Stern. https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/datafile/hist…
- Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 2023 Shareholder Letter — Berkshire's performance vs the S&P 500 (compounded annual gain 1965–2023: 19.8% vs 10.2%). https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2023ltr.pdf
- Singapore Department of Statistics. Consumer Price Index (2024 as base year), monthly. https://data.gov.sg/datasets/d_bdaff844e3ef89d39fceb962ff8f0791/view
What can make this go out of date
- CPF OA/SA rates (quarterly, CPF Board; SA 4% floor currently to 31 Dec 2026)
- Trailing STI ETF and S&P 500 returns (monthly/annual) — the page quotes dated figures, the bar chart uses rounded constants
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