This future value calculator models how an investment might grow over time. It handles simple compounding, or more complex scenarios with regular contributions or withdrawals.
Future Value Calculator
Using the Future Value Calculator
The calculator starts with some simple defaults – provide three inputs to see compound growth in action.
- Starting Balance ($) - Your initial investment amount
- Years to Invest - How long you'll let it grow
- Expected Annual Return (%) - Your assumed annual return rate. For context, the S&P 500 has historically averaged around 10% annually (see our S&P 500 return calculator for more)
Advanced Options
For more complex scenarios where you'd like to model regular contributions or retirement withdrawals, click Show Advanced Options to reveal the tool's Periodic Contributions settings.
- Contribution Amount ($) - Enter either regular deposits you'll make as positive dollar amounts, or withdrawals you'll make as negative dollar amounts.
- Contribution Frequency - How often you'll add to or withdraw from the investment: weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.
The calculator updates automatically as you type – no button clicking required!
Understanding the Results
The calculator shows your Future Value prominently – that's the final number you care about, the total investment value after the Years to Invest you chose. Click Show Detailed Breakdown to see how you got there:
- Starting Balance - Your initial investment
- Your Contributions - Total amount you added over time (or withdrew, if negative)
- Investment Gains - The money the investment made for you
- Overall Return - Your total percentage gain
Graph Mode: Visualizing Growth Over Time
Hit Calculate & Graph 📊 to see a stacked bar chart showing how your investment grows year by year. The visualization breaks down your starting balance, contributions, and market gains to illustrate the compounding growth (or, uhh, decline) of an investment. You can hover – or tap on mobile – to see the snapshot after any year in the series.
Calculator Assumptions
The calculator uses annual compounding, meaning returns compound once per year. For periodic contributions, it applies growth each period proportionally (for example, monthly contributions receive monthly compounding at 1/12th the annual rate).
This tool shows you the mathematical outcome of consistent returns, which is useful for planning even if reality will be bumpier. And I guarantee it will be: real-world investing is messier than this calculator.
Try our stock return calculator or ETF return calculator to see returns that actually happened!
Planning Your Financial Future
Whether you're seeing what an investment might become or planning how to fund 30 years of retirement, playing with different scenarios helps you understand the possibilities. Despite my best attempts, my calculators can't predict the future... but modeling sure beats guessing!
Try these related calculators next:
- Investment Calculator - Similar to this one with different output formats
- CAGR Calculator - Calculate compound annual growth rate from known start/end values
- Present Value Calculator - The inverse of this tool: what's a future amount worth today?
- ROI Calculator - Simple return on investment percentage
