Daniel Jassy, CFA, is an Investopedia Academy instructor and the founder of SPYderCRusher Research. He contributes to Excel and Algorithmic Trading. Suzanne is a content marketer, writer, and ...

Definition: An investment’s payback period in years is equal to the net investment amount divided by the average annual cash flow from the investment. What it means: How long will it take to get my ...

Imagine you bought a vending machine for $2,000. This vending machine made you profits of $100 a year, after all expenses. It would take 20 years to recoup your initial investment. The amount of time ...

The payback periodmeasures how long a project or investment takes to repay any initial outlay. For example, if you spend £1,000 on shares, then receive a dividend of £200 at the end of every year, the ...