Investment Return Calculator

The calculator takes your hypothetical investment amount and divides it by the historical spot price on your chosen date to determine how many ounces you would have purchased. It then multiplies those ounces by today's spot price to show your current portfolio value, gain/loss, ROI percentage, and annualized return.

No, this calculator uses spot prices only. In practice, you would pay a premium above spot when buying (typically 2-10% for bars, 5-20% for coins) and may have ongoing storage or insurance costs. Your actual return would be lower than the spot-price calculation shown here.

Annualized return is the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of your investment. It normalizes returns across different time periods so you can compare them fairly. For example, a 50% total return over 5 years is roughly 8.4% annualized, while 50% over 2 years is about 22.5% annualized.

Our historical price data for gold and silver goes back several years. The date picker will automatically constrain to available dates. For the most accurate results, choose dates within our data range.

Gold has historically served as a store of value and hedge against inflation and currency debasement. Over the past 50+ years, gold has averaged roughly 7-8% annual returns. However, gold doesn't produce income like stocks (dividends) or bonds (interest). Most financial advisors recommend allocating 5-15% of a portfolio to precious metals for diversification.

Returns vary significantly by time period. Gold has been the most consistent long-term performer. Silver tends to be more volatile with higher peaks and deeper troughs. Palladium had extraordinary gains from 2016-2020 but has since declined. Platinum has underperformed in recent years relative to gold. Past performance does not guarantee future results.