Investment Calculator

Options — compounding, contributions, inflation
Future value—
Total invested—paid in
Total return—earned
Inflation-adjusted value—

The Investment Calculator above is a projection, not a forecast. It applies the fixed annual return you enter every year — real markets do not, and it does not model fees, taxes, or a sequence of good and bad years. Use it to compare scenarios, not as financial advice.

An investment projection compounds a starting balance and every future contribution forward at an assumed annual return, then discounts the result by inflation to state it in today's money. Project how much your investments will grow based on your initial amount, regular contributions, expected annual return and inflation.

How the Investment Calculator Works

Project your wealth growth from starting capital, regular deposits, expected returns and inflation.

1

Set your starting point and expectations

Enter your initial investment, the annual return you expect, and how often returns compound — daily, monthly, quarterly or yearly. More frequent compounding earns a little more.

2

Add your contributions and time horizon

Choose how much you invest each month or year and whether deposits land at the start or end of the period, then set your investment timeline. Every deposit compounds from the day it is added.

3

See growth and inflation impact

The result shows your future portfolio value, total contributions, investment returns, and what your balance is worth in today's money after inflation. Use the year-by-year table to track growth at each milestone. Need to measure returns on money already invested? Try the ROI Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does this investment calculator work?
This investment calculator projects your portfolio month by month, growing the balance at your expected annual return, adding each contribution at the start or end of the period, then compounding. It shows the future value, how much you invested, and how much is investment return. Each month the balance is multiplied by (1 + r/n)^(n/12), where r is your annual return and n is the compounding frequency you choose, so annual, quarterly, monthly and daily compounding all run on one monthly timeline. The year-by-year table then splits the balance into what you paid in and what the return added, which is where you can see growth overtake deposits.
What is the inflation-adjusted value?
The inflation-adjusted value restates the future balance in today's money by discounting at the inflation rate you enter, so you see what it is really worth. The calculator divides the nominal future value by (1 + inflation)^years. At 3% inflation over 30 years that divisor is about 2.43, so a $1,000,000 projection is worth roughly $412,000 in today's terms. Set inflation to 0 and the real and nominal figures come out identical.
Beginning or end of period for contributions?
Beginning-of-period (annuity-due) contributions are invested one period earlier, so they earn slightly more over time. Choosing beginning gives every deposit one extra month of growth compared with end-of-period. At a 7% annual return that extra month is worth about 0.57% on each contribution, which is small per deposit but consistent across a long horizon. Pick whichever matches when the money actually leaves your account — payroll investing usually behaves like beginning-of-period.
How is this different from the ROI and Compound Interest calculators?
The Investment Calculator projects future growth from ongoing contributions. To measure the return on money you already invested, use the ROI Calculator; for pure compounding across daily/monthly/quarterly/annual periods, use the Compound Interest Calculator. The difference is direction: this page looks forward from a plan you have not executed yet, while ROI looks back at a result you already have. Compound interest sits between the two, modelling how a balance grows at a fixed rate without the inflation adjustment or the contribution-timing switch offered here.