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Calculators/Retirement & Investing

IRR Calculator

Calculate the Internal Rate of Return for any investment with custom annual cash flows.

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Year 1
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Year 2
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Year 3
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Year 4
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Year 5
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How to Use This Calculator

1. Enter the initial investment as a positive number.

2. Enter expected cash flows for each year — can be positive or negative.

3. Optionally enter a hurdle rate to see if the investment clears your minimum return threshold.

Decision rule: If IRR > your hurdle/discount rate, the investment is worth pursuing.

Real-World Examples

$100k investment, $30k/yr for 5 years:
IRR ≈ 15.2% — beats a 10% hurdle rate
Rental property: $200k invested, $12k, $14k, $16k, $18k, $250k (sale):
IRR ≈ 22%

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good IRR?

It depends on the asset class. Real estate: 15–20%+ for active investments. Private equity: 20–25%. Index fund alternative: 7–10%. Always compare to your opportunity cost.

IRR vs NPV — which should I use?

Use NPV to compare projects of different sizes. Use IRR to evaluate a single investment against a hurdle rate. For most decisions, use both together.

Why might IRR fail?

If cash flows change sign more than once (multiple negative periods), there may be multiple IRRs. In that case, rely on NPV instead.

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