Calculate the future value of an investment with a starting amount, periodic deposits, and compound interest. See a growth chart, a pie chart breakdown, and a full year-by-year schedule.
Enter values and click "Calculate" to see results.
Future Value (FV) is the value of a current asset at a specified date in the future, based on an assumed rate of growth. In other words, it answers the question: "If I invest money today and add to it regularly, how much will it be worth after N periods at interest rate I/Y?"
Future value is one of the five core variables in the Time Value of Money (TVM) framework, alongside Present Value (PV), Periodic Payment (PMT), Interest Rate (I/Y), and Number of Periods (N). It forms the backbone of nearly every financial calculation — from savings accounts and retirement planning to mortgages and business valuations.
A simple example: if you invest $1,000 today at 6% annual interest for one year, the future value is $1,060. That extra $60 is the compensation for letting the bank use your money — the essence of compound interest.
When there are no periodic deposits (PMT = 0), the formula for future value of a lump sum is:
When there are periodic deposits (an annuity), the formula becomes:
Where:
PV — Present Value (starting amount)PMT — Periodic deposit/paymentr — Interest rate per period (I/Y ÷ 100, assuming annual compounding)n — Number of periods
If the deposit is made at the beginning of each period (an annuity due), the PMT term is
multiplied by (1 + r), because each deposit earns one extra period of interest.
The final future value is made up of three distinct parts:
The pie chart above shows exactly how much of your final balance comes from each source. In a typical 10-year scenario at 6%, you might be surprised to see that interest contributes over a third of the total.
The timing of your deposits matters. Suppose you deposit $100 at the end of each year for 10 years at 6% interest. The first $100 earns interest for 9 years, the second for 8 years, and so on. The last $100 earns nothing.
If you instead deposit at the beginning of each year, every deposit earns interest for one extra period. Over 10 years, that difference can add up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Rule of thumb: Always choose "beginning" if you're depositing money at the start of each period (e.g., on January 1). Choose "end" if deposits happen at the end (e.g., on December 31).
You're 30 and want to retire at 65. You have $20,000 saved and plan to contribute $500/month. Assuming a 7% annual return, what will your nest egg be at 65? Set N = 35, PV = 20000, PMT = 500 × 12 = 6000 (annual), I/Y = 7. The calculator will show you the projected FV — often a surprisingly large number thanks to compounding.
You want to save for your child's education. You start with $5,000 and add $200/month for 18 years at 5% annual interest. The FV calculation tells you whether you'll have enough to cover tuition.
You're building an emergency fund of $30,000. You start with $2,000 and save $400/month at 4% APY. How long until you hit your goal? You can iterate N in the calculator until FV crosses $30,000.
A business invests $50,000 in new equipment expected to generate $10,000/year in additional revenue. Assuming a 10% discount rate, the FV of that revenue stream over 5 years tells you whether the investment is worthwhile.
This calculator assumes annual compounding by default. Real-world accounts often compound more frequently — monthly, daily, or continuously. To adjust for more frequent compounding, divide the annual rate by the number of compounding periods per year, and multiply N by the same number.
For example, for monthly compounding:
If you want a more advanced calculator that handles arbitrary compounding frequencies and solves for any of the five TVM variables, try our Finance Calculator.
PV is what money is worth today; FV is what it will be worth in the future after earning interest. They're two sides of the same coin — if you know PV, I/Y, and N, you can compute FV; if you know FV, I/Y, and N, you can compute PV (which is the discounting process).
Yes. The standard cash flow sign convention applies: money you receive is positive, money you pay out
is negative. For example, a deposit of $100 should be entered as -100 if you're treating
it as an outflow from your wallet.
The calculator uses double-precision floating point math, accurate to ~15 significant digits. The schedule table rounds to 2 decimal places for readability, but intermediate calculations are not rounded.
Currently no server-side storage is used (for privacy). You can bookmark the page or copy the URL with query parameters. A future version may add local storage.
No. The FV shown is a nominal value. To get real (inflation-adjusted) value, subtract the inflation rate from the interest rate before entering I/Y. For example, if I/Y = 7% and inflation = 3%, enter I/Y = 4% to see the real FV.