What rate should I use?

That is your assumption, not ours, and this tool will not suggest one. A rate is a claim about the future. What this can tell you is how sensitive the answer is: change the rate by one point and watch what happens to the final number.

Why is my result lower than another calculator's?

Almost always because contributions here land at the end of each period rather than the start. Depositing at the start earns one extra period of growth on every contribution. Real deposits arrive throughout the month, so end of period is the conservative choice.

Does this account for tax?

No. Inside a TFSA there is nothing to account for. Inside a non-registered account there is, and how much depends on your income, your province and what the money is invested in.

Compound Growth Calculator

What a lump sum and a monthly contribution become, and what inflation leaves of it.

Balance after 25 years

$391,147

About $238,416 in today's money at 2% inflation. That gap is the part most projections leave out.

You put in

$160,000

It earned

$231,147

59% of the total

Money doubles every

11.9 yrs

At 6%

Contributions against growth

Year 0$10,000
Year 4$39,754
Year 7$67,241
Year 11$112,477
Year 14$154,268
Year 18$223,044
Year 21$286,581
Year 25$391,147

Around year 20 the growth passes what you have contributed. From there the account is earning more than you are adding, which is the whole reason for starting early rather than adding more later.

The split, at the end

You contributed$160,000
Growth$231,147

Contributions land at the end of each period, so this month's deposit earns nothing this month. Depositing at the start of the period instead adds roughly one period of growth to the whole stream.

What this does

Enter what you have, what you add each month, a rate and a number of years. It separates what you contributed from what the money earned, year by year, because those two numbers behave very differently over time and the split is the point of the whole exercise.

Why this one

Two things most compound calculators leave out. It shows contributions and growth as separate quantities, so you can see the year growth overtakes what you are putting in. And it discounts the result for inflation, because $1,000,000 in forty years is not $1,000,000, and a projection that does not say so is selling something.

The formula

each period:  balance  =  balance x (1 + annual rate / periods)  +  contribution
contributions land at the END of each period, so this month's deposit earns nothing this month
in today's money  =  balance / (1 + inflation) ^ years

Published so you can check it. A calculator about money that will not show its working is asking to be trusted on the one thing you cannot verify.

Questions

What rate should I use?: That is your assumption, not ours, and this tool will not suggest one. A rate is a claim about the future. What this can tell you is how sensitive the answer is: change the rate by one point and watch what happens to the final number.
Why is my result lower than another calculator's?: Almost always because contributions here land at the end of each period rather than the start. Depositing at the start earns one extra period of growth on every contribution. Real deposits arrive throughout the month, so end of period is the conservative choice.
Does this account for tax?: No. Inside a TFSA there is nothing to account for. Inside a non-registered account there is, and how much depends on your income, your province and what the money is invested in.

Your data

Everything here runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, nothing is saved, and there is no account. Close the tab and it is gone.

We count that this calculator was used, and that is the whole of it. No figure you enter and no answer you get leaves the page. See the privacy policy.

Take it with you

The same calculator as a file you keep. Unzip it, open index.html, and it works with no internet connection at all. Free, and yours to pass on.

Download, 12 KB

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All eight

This tool is for education and planning only and does not constitute financial, legal or tax advice. EmpireSheets is not a regulated adviser. Rates, rules and thresholds change, so check anything time sensitive against a current official source before acting on it.