Internal Rate of Return

MoneyBestPal Team
A financial statistic used to assess the profitability of an investment project or commercial venture.
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Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is a financial statistic used to assess the profitability of an investment project or commercial venture. It specifically assesses the annualized rate of return that a potential investor might anticipate from a specific investment.


When reviewing possible investments or contrasting various investment prospects, businesses, and investors frequently use the IRR as a decision-making tool.

The present value of the investment's anticipated cash inflows and outflows are divided by their present values to calculate the investment return rate (IRR). In other terms, it is the discount rate at which the investment's NPV, or net present value, equals 1. Given that the discount rate must be determined through trial and error or a mathematical equation, the procedure for computing IRR might be challenging.

The IRR statistic has the benefit of taking into account the time value of money, or the fact that a dollar earned today is worth more than a dollar received in the future. This makes it possible to determine an investment's genuine long-term profitability with more accuracy.

IRR, however, also has significant drawbacks. For instance, it makes the unrealistic assumption that all cash flows from the investment would be reinvested at the same rate as the IRR. It can be challenging to interpret IRR because it occasionally yields several solutions or none at all.
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