How do I calculate total return properly?
Add dividends received to the price gain, then divide by your original cost. Ignoring dividends can understate returns on income stocks by several percentage points a year.
Pick from popular stocks and ETFs (Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Tesla, Amazon, VOO, SPY, QQQ, SCHD), enter lump sum or monthly investment, and project future value, dividends, ROI and CAGR over any holding period.
Profit = (sell price − buy price) × shares − fees. Return % = profit ÷ (buy price × shares) × 100. Break-even price = buy price + fees ÷ shares.
Buying 100 shares at $45 and selling at $62 with $10 total fees nets $1,690 — a 37.6% return. Add $1.50 quarterly dividends and total return rises to about 51%.
Add dividends received to the price gain, then divide by your original cost. Ignoring dividends can understate returns on income stocks by several percentage points a year.
In the US, holdings under a year are taxed as ordinary income; over a year they qualify for long-term rates of 0/15/20%. Holding across that line often changes net profit materially.
Only if your original thesis still holds. Averaging down lowers your break-even price but concentrates risk — position sizing should decide, not the desire to recover a loss.