See how much your money could grow to over time. Enter a starting balance, regular contributions (optional), an interest rate, and a time period. The calculator estimates the future value of your savings or investment with compound interest.
This is useful for estimating retirement savings, education funds, or any long-term goal where you contribute regularly and let compound interest do the work.
Enter your starting balance, regular contribution, interest rate and time horizon to see how much your money could grow to.
Most savings and investment plans follow the same basic pattern: you start with some money, add more over time, and earn interest on everything that’s in the account. This calculator models that process using standard compound interest formulas.
You can include both a lump sum at the start and regular contributions each compounding period, such as monthly deposits into a savings account.
If you only have a starting lump sum and no ongoing contributions, the future value is:
FV = PV × (1 + r/m)^(m × t) PV = starting balance r = nominal annual interest rate (as a decimal) m = number of compounding periods per year t = time in years
This is the classic compound interest formula, showing how a single deposit grows over time.
If you also make a regular deposit PMT at the end of every
compounding period, the formula becomes:
FV = PV × (1 + r/m)^(m × t) + PMT × [((1 + r/m)^(m × t) − 1) ÷ (r/m)] PV = starting balance PMT = contribution once per compounding period r = nominal annual interest rate (decimal) m = compounding periods per year t = time in years
The calculator uses this formula under the hood. If the rate is set to 0%, it simplifies to just PV plus all your contributions with no growth.
Imagine the following plan:
Plugging these into the calculator shows how your balance steadily grows, how much of the final amount comes from your deposits, and how much comes from compound interest.
Future value (FV) tells you what a stream of deposits will be worth at a certain point in time, given an interest rate.
Present value (PV) works the other way: it tells you how much a future amount is worth in today’s money, discounting for interest or inflation.
This page focuses on future value. If you need the reverse calculation, look for a present value or net present value (NPV) calculator.
| Frequency | Periods per year (m) | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Annually | 1 | Simple savings products, some bonds |
| Semi-annually | 2 | Traditional bonds and some CDs |
| Quarterly | 4 | Business interest accounts |
| Monthly | 12 | Most savings accounts and personal loans |
| Weekly | 52 | Some digital savings products |
| Daily | 365 | High-yield and online savings accounts |
It assumes regular contributions happen at the end of each compounding period (for example, at the end of each month). This matches the standard future value-of-an-annuity formula.
To keep things simple and fast, this version assumes the deposit frequency matches the compounding frequency. If your schedule is different, choose the frequency that best approximates your pattern or use a more detailed cashflow model.
Real accounts often change rates, but the math here assumes a fixed average rate. You can approximate varying rates by using a reasonable long-term average based on your expectations.
No. For savings accounts with a fixed rate, the math can be very accurate; for investments in stocks or funds, the future value is only an estimate based on your assumed rate of return.