Future Value Calculator

1. Enter a starting amount, and a contribution each period if you plan to add money regularly.
2. Add the annual return rate and the number of years.
3. Pick the frequency and read the future value, the total invested and the interest earned.

Each output tells a different part of the story:

Future value is the amount a sum of money today will grow to by a later date, once it earns a return each period. It is the forward-looking twin of present value, which discounts a future amount back to today. Future value answers the question every saver asks: if I invest this, what will it become?

The power comes from compounding. Each period the return is added to the balance, and the next period earns on the larger total, so the future value curves upward rather than rising in a straight line. Regular contributions add a second engine of growth alongside the starting amount.

It grows the starting amount by compounding, then adds the future value of the stream of contributions.

Here i is the rate per period and N the number of periods. The lump sum grows as PV(1+i)^N, while the contributions form an annuity worth PMT * ((1+i)^N - 1)/i. Adding the two gives the total future value.

1. Convert the annual rate to a rate per period and count the periods.
2. Grow the starting amount by compounding.
3. Add the compounded value of every contribution.

If the rate is zero, the future value is simply the starting amount plus all the contributions.

Invest 10,000 today, add 200 a month, at 7 percent for 20 years, compounded monthly. The lump sum alone grows to about 40,387. The 200-a-month stream, 240 payments, grows to roughly 104,185.

Together the future value is about 144,572. You invested 10,000 plus 48,000 in contributions, 58,000 in all, so around 86,572 is interest, more than what you put in. Compounding and steady saving together do the heavy lifting.

Start with nothing but save 500 a month at 8 percent for 30 years and the future value is about 745,000, from 180,000 of contributions, a striking illustration of time and compounding.

The two are mirror images, linked by the same compounding factor.

Present value divides by the same factor that future value multiplies by, so they undo each other. To compare against a plain growth rate, the CAGR calculator is a useful companion.

Four levers shape the result, and their effects compound on each other.

Time

The longer the horizon, the more the balance compounds, and the final years add the most because they build on the largest base.

The Rate

A higher return raises the base each period grows from, so small rate differences become large gaps over decades.

Contributions

Regular deposits can dwarf the starting amount over a long horizon, especially when saving early.

Frequency

More frequent compounding and contributing nudges the future value up, though the effect is modest at low rates.

Retirement Planning

Project what a pension pot or investment could become with regular contributions over many years.

Saving for a Goal

See whether a monthly amount will reach a target such as a deposit or a college fund in time.

Comparing Options

Test how a higher rate or an earlier start changes the outcome before committing to a plan.

1. Mismatching Rate and Frequency

Use a rate per period that matches your contribution frequency, or the projection will be off.

2. Ignoring Inflation

The future value is nominal. In real terms, its spending power is lower once inflation is counted.

3. Assuming a Fixed Return

Markets vary year to year; a single rate is a simplification, not a guarantee.

4. Forgetting Fees and Tax

Both reduce the true future value, so the gross figure is an upper bound.

5. Starting Late

Because the last years compound hardest, a delayed start can cost a large amount at the end.

The math is exact for the fixed inputs you enter, but a real plan rarely holds a single rate for decades.

Future value is what a sum of money today will grow to by a later date once it earns a return each period. Compounding makes it grow faster the longer you wait.

FV = PV(1 + i)^N + PMT x [((1 + i)^N - 1) / i], where i is the rate per period, N the number of periods, PV the starting amount and PMT the contribution.

Future value grows todays money forward, while present value discounts a future amount back to today. They use the same factor in opposite directions.

Yes. Enter a contribution each period and the calculator adds the compounded value of that stream to the growth of your starting amount.

More frequent compounding raises the future value slightly. The effect is larger at higher rates and small at low ones.

No. It shows a nominal figure. In real terms, the spending power of that amount will be lower once inflation is taken into account.

Use a realistic expected return for your investment. Long-run stock market returns are often around 7 to 10 percent, but past returns do not guarantee future ones.

Over a long horizon, compounding on both the lump sum and the growing contributions can produce more interest than the total you paid in.

No. The calculation runs in your browser, and nothing you enter is sent anywhere unless you Save a result, which stays on this device only.

• Future value (Wikipedia).
• Future value explained (Corporate Finance Institute).
• Compound interest (Maths Is Fun).