Future Value Calculator
FV of a lump sum plus recurring payments, with any compounding frequency and an inflation adjustment
Future Value Calculator
Inputs
Results
Based on your results — what to do next:
See the compounding curve
$86,573 of your $144,573 is pure compounding — break down exactly when it accelerates.
Is this your retirement number?
$144,573 nominal is really $80,046 in today's dollars — test it against your target retirement income.
Working backward from a goal
If $144,573 is short of your target, find the monthly deposit that closes the gap.
Future value (FV) is what money you hold today will be worth at a future date once interest compounds. $10,000 at 7% compounded monthly for 20 years becomes about $40,387; add $200 a month and it reaches roughly $144,600. This calculator handles both components at once — the lump sum and the payment stream — across six compounding frequencies, supports beginning-of-period (annuity due) timing, and shows the inflation-adjusted result so you can see what that future balance actually buys.
How Future Value Is Calculated
Future value has two independent pieces. A lump sum grows by a compounding factor. A stream of equal payments grows as an annuity. When you have both, each is computed separately and the results are summed.
| Variable | Definition |
|---|---|
| PV | Present value — the lump sum you hold today |
| r | Nominal annual interest rate, as a decimal |
| n | Compounding periods per year (1, 2, 4, 12, or 365) |
| t | Number of years |
| i | Periodic rate = r ÷ n |
| N | Total number of periods = n × t |
| PMT | Recurring deposit made each period |
Worked example: PV = $10,000, r = 7%, monthly compounding (n = 12), t = 20 years, PMT = $200. The periodic rate i = 0.07 ÷ 12 = 0.005833 and N = 240. FV of the lump sum = 10,000 × (1.005833)240 ≈ $40,387. FV of the payments = 200 × [((1.005833)240 − 1) ÷ 0.005833] ≈ $104,185. Total FV ≈ $144,573, against $58,000 contributed — meaning about 60% of the ending balance is compounding.
If payments are made at the beginning of each period instead of the end (an annuity due), every payment earns one extra period of interest, so the payment portion is multiplied by (1 + i). At these inputs that adds about $608 — small monthly, but meaningful on large or long-dated cash flows.
💡 Expert Pro-Tip
Time Beats Rate — and It Isn't Close: People agonize over squeezing an extra half-percent out of their return and then delay starting by three years. Run both experiments in the calculator above. On a $200/month contribution at 7%, raising the return to 7.5% over 30 years adds roughly $25,500. Starting three years earlier at the original 7% adds roughly $64,800 — and unlike the return, the start date is entirely within your control. The compounding curve is nearly flat for the first decade and then bends sharply upward, which means the years you feel like you are wasting are precisely the ones doing the heaviest lifting at the end.
Future Value Calculator FAQ
What is future value used for?
Future value answers "what will this be worth later?" It underlies retirement projections, education savings targets, CD and bond maturity values, lease-versus-buy comparisons, and any capital budgeting decision that spans years. It is also the mirror image of present value: FV compounds forward, PV discounts backward, and both use the same rate.
Does compounding frequency really matter?
It matters, but with sharply diminishing returns. On $10,000 at 7% for 20 years: annual compounding yields $38,697, quarterly $40,064, monthly $40,387, and daily $40,547. Moving from annual to monthly gains about 4%; moving from monthly to daily gains about 0.4%. Beyond daily lies continuous compounding, which is the mathematical ceiling — and only about $5 higher than daily here.
Ordinary annuity or annuity due — which should I pick?
Choose based on when the money actually leaves your account. Automatic investment transfers scheduled for the last day of the month are ordinary annuities (end of period). Contributions made on the 1st, rent, and most insurance premiums are annuities due (beginning of period). The annuity-due future value is higher by exactly a factor of (1 + i), since each payment gets one extra period of growth.
What rate of return should I assume?
Use conservative long-run averages rather than recent performance. Historically: broad U.S. equity indices around 10% nominal (roughly 7% after inflation), diversified balanced portfolios 6–8%, investment-grade bonds 4–5%, and high-yield savings or CDs at whatever is currently posted. For any horizon over ten years, running the calculation at three rates — pessimistic, expected, optimistic — is far more useful than a single point estimate.
Why is the inflation-adjusted number lower?
Because future dollars buy less. Dividing the nominal FV by (1 + inflation)yearsconverts it into today's purchasing power. At 3% inflation over 30 years, that divisor is about 2.43 — so a $1,000,000 nominal balance is worth roughly $412,000 in current terms. Always set your savings targets against the inflation-adjusted figure.
Does this account for taxes?
No — it models pre-tax growth, which is correct for tax-deferred accounts like a 401(k) or traditional IRA and for Roth accounts on the way out. In a taxable brokerage or savings account, interest and dividends are taxed annually; approximate that by entering an after-tax return (multiply your rate by 1 minus your marginal bracket). For deposit accounts specifically, the APY calculator shows the after-tax yield directly.