Discount rate is opportunity cost
Discount Rate Example (Simple) Below is a screenshot of a hypothetical investment that pays seven annual cash flows with each payment equal to $100. In order to calculate the net present value of the investment, an analyst uses a 5% hurdle rate and calculates a value of $578.64. The definition of a discount rate depends the context, it's either defined as the interest rate used to calculate net present value or the interest rate charged by the Federal Reserve Bank. There are two discount rate formulas you can use to calculate discount rate, WACC (weighted average cost of capital) and APV (adjusted present value).