"Totonno" wrote:
My cash payments are not regular and are not equal.

If they are irregular in frequency, use XIRR instead of IRR. But beware
that XIRR always returns an annualized rate, whereas IRR returns a period
rate. If you want an annual rate, that is not an issue. But if you want a
non-annual periodic rate like IRR, you will need to convert it.


----- original message -----

"Totonno" wrote in message
...


"Ron Rosenfeld" wrote:

On Sat, 6 Jun 2009 11:16:01 -0700, Totonno

wrote:

How do I compute the rate of return on a stream of payments that are not
equal other than by trial and error?

Use the IRR function.

"Returns the internal rate of return for a series of cash flows
represented by
the numbers in values. These cash flows do not have to be even, as they
would
be for an annuity. However, the cash flows must occur at regular
intervals,
such as monthly or annually. The internal rate of return is the interest
rate
received for an investment consisting of payments (negative values) and
income
(positive values) that occur at regular periods."
--ron
My cash payments are not regular and are not equal. I prepared an excel
spreadsheet applying an interest rate on a trial and error basis to come
to a predetermined future value. It's very tedious and I thought there
may be a quicker way.
Totonno