Investment Calculators
Compound interest.
Project investment growth with an initial principal, regular monthly contributions, and any compounding frequency. Includes a year-by-year breakdown table.
Inputs
Future value
Fill the form and press Calculate.
The compound interest formula
A = P(1 + r/n)nt where A is the final amount, P is your principal, r is the annual rate, n is the compounding frequency, and t is the number of years. More frequent compounding nudges the result up slightly; the much bigger lever is time.
TNAADO Inc. · Toronto
Compounding is a rate question before it is a time question
Compound growth is the same arithmetic whether the money sits in a GIC or an index fund: the return earned in one period becomes principal for the next. What the curve hides is that the outcome is dominated by the rate and the number of compounding periods rather than by the size of the deposit, which is why a single percentage point of fee difference costs far more over thirty years than almost anyone expects.
The mistake people make. Quoting a nominal return and reading it as purchasing power. A 6% nominal return in a 3% inflation year is a 3% real return, and it is the real figure that decides whether the money buys more later than it does now. Run the nominal result through the Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator before concluding that a plan works.
Disclaimer
Educational only. Real-world returns vary with market conditions, fees, and taxes. Past performance does not guarantee future results.