Compare CAGR scenarios
Change one input, hold everything else identical, and see how much that one input is actually worth. The gap between the scenarios is the whole answer.
What to compare
Everything else below is held identical across the scenarios, so the only thing separating the lines is this one input.
Shared by every scenario
What the investment was worth at the start.
What it is worth now. Enter a smaller figure to see a negative rate.
Side by side
| Scenario | Period held | CAGR |
|---|---|---|
| Scenario A | 2.5 years | 31.95% |
| Scenario B | 5 years | 14.87% |
| Scenario C | 7.5 years | 9.68% |
Moving period held from 2.5 years to 7.5 years changes cagr by −22.27%. Every other input was identical in both.
Show how each scenario is calculatedHide the working
Scenario A — 2.5 years
How many times the money multiplied
₹2,00,000 ÷ ₹1,00,000
= 2
Spread that across the years
2^(1 ÷ 3)
= 1.319508
The root, not a division — growth compounds, so the yearly rate is not the total divided by the years.
Subtract the original rupee and read it as a percentage
(1.319508 − 1) × 100
= 31.95%
Scenario B — 5 years
How many times the money multiplied
₹2,00,000 ÷ ₹1,00,000
= 2
Spread that across the years
2^(1 ÷ 5)
= 1.148698
The root, not a division — growth compounds, so the yearly rate is not the total divided by the years.
Subtract the original rupee and read it as a percentage
(1.148698 − 1) × 100
= 14.87%
Scenario C — 7.5 years
How many times the money multiplied
₹2,00,000 ÷ ₹1,00,000
= 2
Spread that across the years
2^(1 ÷ 8)
= 1.096825
The root, not a division — growth compounds, so the yearly rate is not the total divided by the years.
Subtract the original rupee and read it as a percentage
(1.096825 − 1) × 100
= 9.68%
Every scenario is computed by the same engine the cagr calculator uses, so the last line of each is the figure in the table above. Intermediate values are shown rounded for reading; the calculation carries full precision throughout.
Over time
Each line is one scenario. Because every other input is identical, the gap between them is the effect of period held alone.
How to read this
- Only one input differs. Every other value is identical across the scenarios, which is what makes the gap between them readable. If each scenario had its own assumed return, the chart would be comparing guesses rather than choices.
- A bigger number is not automatically better. On a loan comparison the larger figure is the worse one, and on any of these the right answer depends on circumstances this page knows nothing about.
- The rate is still an assumption. Comparing scenarios does not make any of them a forecast — it only shows how sensitive the outcome is to the input you changed.
To see the arithmetic behind a single scenario, use the CAGR Calculator, which shows the formula and works it through with your numbers.