Got a lump sum and a growth rate in mind? See what it could be worth down the road, and watch how much of that comes from compounding.
Start with the present value PV, grow it at rate r for t years:
The “1 + r” is how much each dollar is multiplied by in a year. Raising it to the power of t just repeats that, year after year.
You put $50,000 away and leave it for 25 years, assuming 8% a year.
That’s about 6.8 times what you started with, without adding another dollar. Time does most of the work.
Same idea, but $25,000 at 6% for 15 years.
A good habit: run your numbers at a few different rates. You’ll quickly see how much the answer depends on that one guess.
Inflation shrinks what money can buy. To see the result in today’s dollars, use a “real” rate: (1 + growth rate) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. With 7% growth and 3% inflation, that’s 3.88%.
$10,000 that loses 5% a year for 3 years.
Just type −5 for the rate. The formula works the same in both directions.
It’s what a sum of money today could be worth at some point later, if it grows at a certain rate. This calculator handles one lump sum growing once a year.
Not quite. Future value starts with what you have and looks forward. A reverse CAGR calculator starts with a goal and works backward to tell you what you need today. If you already know both amounts and want the growth rate, that’s the CAGR calculator.
Not on this page, since it’s built for a single lump sum. The Investment Growth Calculator handles regular contributions and shows how much of your balance came from you versus growth.
Pick something you can defend for that particular investment and time frame, then try a few others around it. Nobody knows future returns, and past results don’t promise anything. The point is to see a range of outcomes, not one magic number.
Many calculators take your 8% and compound it monthly, which quietly works out to about 8.30% a year. We treat your rate as the actual yearly growth, so 8% means 8%.