Investment Calculator
Project your investment growth over time with regular contributions and compound returns.
Investment Calculator
Calculate your investment growth instantly.
Future Value
$0What This Calculator Shows You
Investing is the decision to give up money now for a reasonable expectation of more money later. This tool puts a number on that expectation — what a starting sum, a regular contribution, and a rate of return could grow into over time.
It won't predict markets, and nothing that claims to should be trusted. What it does is far more useful: it shows the shape of long-term growth, so you can see whether your current plan gets you where you want to go, and what changing one variable would actually do.
The Formula
Growth on the initial sum:
FV = P × (1 + r)n
FV = Future Value · P = Initial Investment · r = Annual Return · n = Years
Growth on regular contributions, each compounding from its own start date:
FV = C × [ ((1 + r)n − 1) / r ]
C = Contribution per Period · r = Return per Period · n = Number of Periods
Add the two together for the total. The second half is where most people's wealth actually comes from — the initial deposit matters far less than the habit that follows it.
Why Starting Early Beats Investing More
Three investors, all targeting retirement at 65, all earning 8% a year:
| Investor | Contributes | Total put in | Value at 65 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starts at 25 | $300/mo for 10 yrs, then stops | $36,000 | ≈ $709,000 |
| Starts at 35 | $300/mo for 30 yrs | $108,000 | ≈ $447,000 |
| Starts at 45 | $300/mo for 20 yrs | $72,000 | ≈ $177,000 |
The first investor contributes a third of what the second does, stops entirely at 35, and still ends up with $262,000 more. Those ten early years bought three extra decades of compounding.
Risk and Return Move Together
Every rate you might enter above carries an implied level of volatility. There is no asset offering high returns with low risk — if there were, everyone would own it and the return would disappear.
| Asset type | Typical long-run return | What you accept |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and deposits | 1–4% | Near-zero risk, but inflation erodes value |
| Government bonds | 2–5% | Low risk, sensitive to rate changes |
| Corporate bonds | 4–6% | Moderate risk, issuer could default |
| Broad equity index | 7–10% | Significant swings, including multi-year declines |
| Individual stocks | Highly variable | Total loss is possible |
These are long-run averages, not annual guarantees. A portfolio averaging 8% over thirty years might lose 30% in a single year along the way — averages hide the journey entirely.
Two Costs That Quietly Reduce Your Result
Fees
Annual charges compound against you exactly as returns compound for you. On $100,000 growing at 8% for thirty years, a 0.2% index fund leaves roughly $950,000 while a 1.5% actively managed fund leaves roughly $655,000 — nearly $300,000 lost to a difference that looks trivial on paper.
Inflation
The figure this calculator produces is nominal. At 3% inflation, $500,000 in thirty years buys what about $206,000 buys today. To see real growth, subtract inflation from your assumed return — an 8% nominal return becomes roughly 5% real.
Principles Worth Following
- Start before you feel ready. A small amount invested at 25 outperforms a large amount invested at 40. Time is the one input you can never recover.
- Automate the contribution. Money moved before you see it gets invested. Money left to willpower usually doesn't.
- Diversify across assets and regions. Concentration is how portfolios post spectacular returns and how they collapse.
- Keep costs minimal. Fees are the only variable you fully control, and their effect compounds for decades.
- Match your horizon to the asset. Money needed within five years shouldn't sit in equities. Money needed in thirty shouldn't sit in cash.
- Do nothing during downturns. Selling in a crash converts a paper loss into a permanent one. The recovery only helps investors who stayed.
Frequently Asked Questions
For a diversified equity portfolio, 7% to 8% is a widely used long-term assumption before inflation. Bond-heavy portfolios sit lower, around 4% to 5%. Run a pessimistic figure alongside your target — a plan that only works at 12% isn't a plan.
No. Saving protects money and prioritises access; investing accepts the risk of loss in exchange for higher expected growth. You need both — savings for emergencies and near-term goals, investments for anything more than five years away.
Statistically, investing a lump sum immediately wins more often, because markets rise more often than they fall. Spreading it out reduces the regret of investing everything just before a decline. If the psychological comfort keeps you invested, it's worth the small expected cost.
No. Depending on your jurisdiction and account type, gains and dividends may be taxable, which reduces the effective return. Tax-advantaged accounts shelter growth and are usually worth filling before taxable ones.
This is real risk, and it's why portfolios are typically shifted toward bonds and cash as the target approaches. Don't hold money you'll need within a few years in volatile assets, however good the long-run average looks.
It's a mathematical model, not a forecast. Real returns arrive unevenly, and the sequence matters as much as the average. Use it to compare scenarios and test assumptions, not as a promise of a specific balance.