CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate)

CAGR is the constant annual growth rate that would take a starting value to an ending value over a period — the smoothed rate of a bumpy journey. It's the honest way to compare investments over different horizons, and it's always lower than the simple average return when results vary, because losses hurt more than equal-sized gains help. Doubling in five years is a 14.9% CAGR, not 20%.