Decision instrument

Investment Return Calculator

Use the Investment Return Calculator in your browser.

Your inputs

Adjust the fields and review the result in this workbench.

Assumption: contributions are deposited at the end of each month. The selected compounding frequency defines the nominal annual return convention and is converted to an equivalent monthly rate for this projection.

Interpretation

How Investment Return Calculation works

The Investment Return Calculator projects the future value of your investments using compound interest. Enter your initial investment, monthly contributions, expected annual return rate, and time horizon to see how your money could grow over time, with detailed year-by-year breakdowns.

Example

Key features

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

Formula

Future Value = P(1 + r/n)^(nt) + PMT x [((1 + r/n)^(nt) - 1) / (r/n)]

  • Compound interest calculations with monthly contributions
  • Year-by-year growth breakdown with charts
  • Compare different return rate scenarios
  • Accounts for investment fees and inflation

Avoid mistakes

Common mistakes

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

The power of compound interest grows exponentially over time. Starting just 5 years earlier can increase your final portfolio value by 30-50% due to compounding \u2014 time in the market matters more than timing the market.