Future Value Calculator
Calculate the future value of a present amount plus optional regular contributions, compounded over time.
Tap any bar to see the projected balance at that point in the 10-year timeline.
ƒShow your work
FV = PV(1+r)^t + PMT×[((1+r)^t−1)/r]
About the Future Value Calculator
Future value is the mirror image of present value: instead of discounting a future sum back to today, you're compounding what you have (or plan to add) forward to see what it becomes. The naive version — multiplying an annual rate by the number of years — badly understates the real number, because it ignores that growth in early years goes on to earn its own growth in later years.
This is the general-purpose version of the compounding math that shows up everywhere in personal finance: sizing up a lump sum sitting in an account, layering in a recurring contribution, and seeing where the combination lands after a given number of years at an assumed rate — useful whether you're modeling a brokerage account, a savings goal, or just sanity-checking a projection someone else gave you.
Everything you enter — your balance, contribution amount, rate assumption — is calculated right in your browser and never transmitted anywhere, so there's no account to set up just to run a projection.
How it’s calculated
The total future value is built from two compounding pieces added together: your present value growing on its own at the stated rate for the full term, and your monthly contributions growing as an annuity, where each individual deposit compounds for whatever time remains after it's made.
Frequently asked questions
Why is future value higher than just adding up my contributions?
Because each dollar you put in keeps earning returns on itself for the rest of the time horizon — that's compounding. Future value captures the total, including all that reinvested growth, while simply summing contributions ignores it entirely.
How much does the annual rate actually change the result over a long horizon?
A lot more than the percentage-point difference suggests — because compounding is exponential, a rate that's a couple of points higher can produce a dramatically larger future value over 20-30 years. Try nudging the rate up or down a point or two in this calculator to see the effect for your own numbers.
Does it matter whether I contribute monthly or annually?
Slightly — contributing more frequently means each dollar starts compounding a bit sooner on average, which produces a modestly higher future value than making the same total contribution once a year. The effect is real but usually small compared to the rate and time horizon.
What's a reasonable rate to use if I'm not sure?
It depends entirely on what the money is invested in — a savings account or CD might use 3-5%, a diversified stock portfolio has historically averaged closer to 7-10% before inflation. Using a rate that matches where the money actually sits gives a far more useful projection than a generic guess.
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