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Return
The gain or loss on an investment relative to the money put in, usually in percent per year.
Return relates what an investment earned to what was put in. Buy a share for 100 € and sell it for 110 €, and the return is 10 %, before fees and taxes. Dividends count too.
To compare investments of different lengths, returns are annualised: 10 % in three months is not the same as 10 % in three years. Past returns are no guarantee of future ones.
