Decision instrument

Compound Interest Calculator

Use the Compound Interest Calculator in your browser.

Your inputs

Adjust the fields and review the result in this workbench.

Assumption: contributions are made at the end of each whole month. Use a term that is an exact number of months. This is an illustration, not an investment return forecast.

Interpretation

How Compound Interest works

The calculator combines compound growth on the starting balance with contributions made at the end of each whole month. It converts the selected annual, quarterly, monthly, or daily compounding convention into an equivalent monthly rate before valuing those monthly contributions.

Example

Key features

A realistic example to show how this tool can support an actual decision.

Formula

A = P(1 + i)^m + PMT × [((1 + i)^m − 1) / i], where i is the equivalent monthly rate and m is the number of months.

  • Compound growth on an initial balance
  • Monthly contributions with an explicit month-end assumption
  • Annual, quarterly, monthly, or daily nominal compounding
  • A separate view of total contributions and estimated growth

Avoid mistakes

Common mistakes

A few things that can lead to misleading results or poor decisions.

A projection is sensitive to the assumed rate, fees, taxes, and investment volatility. Use a range of rates when making a savings plan rather than relying on one forecast.