Investment Calculator
Grow your money smarter with our free investment calculator. Enter your initial deposit, monthly contributions, return rate and years to project wealth.
About this tool
Small, regular investments can grow into serious money thanks to compounding. Our free investment calculator projects what your portfolio could be worth based on your starting amount, monthly contributions, expected return, and time horizon.
It is perfect for retirement planning, college savings, or just understanding the power of starting early. Remember that projections are estimates - actual market returns vary year to year.
How to use
Enter how much you are starting with, then the amount you plan to add every month. Next, type your expected annual return as a percentage. A common long-term assumption for stock-heavy portfolios is around 7 percent after inflation, but be conservative.
Enter the number of years you plan to invest and press Calculate Growth. The tool shows your total contributions, the projected future value, and how much of it came from growth versus your own deposits.
The math behind it
The calculator compounds monthly. Each month, your balance grows by the monthly rate (annual rate divided by 12), then your contribution is added. Mathematically, the future value equals the initial amount times (1 + r)^n plus the monthly payment times ((1 + r)^n - 1) / r, where r is the monthly rate and n is the number of months.
This is why time matters so much: the exponent n is the number of months, so extra years multiply the effect of compounding dramatically.