Use this free investment calculator to project ending balance, total contributions, and estimated growth from starting money, monthly deposits, return, and time.
$5,000 plus $250.00/mo at 7%
This is a what-if projection, not financial advice or a guaranteed return. Taxes, fees, inflation, withdrawals, market losses, account rules, product risk, and changing returns can move the real result.
Estimate future value from monthly investing.
Compare how time and contribution size affect growth.
Separate total contributions from estimated investment gains.
Test return assumptions before using a real investment plan or adviser conversation.
About $150,425.36 ending balance, with $65,000 contributed and about $85,425.36 growth
About $24,540.94 ending balance, with about $14,540.94 growth
About $72,286.36 vs $176,471.69 ending balance
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Plain-language answers about when to use the estimate, what your numbers mean, what is left out, and how privacy works.
Use it when you want to test the exact inputs on this page: Estimate future value from monthly investing. Compare how time and contribution size affect growth. The result is a check against your assumptions, not proof that a lender, tax app, broker, platform, or provider will use the same number.
Starting investment means the money already invested before the projection starts. Monthly contribution means the amount added at the end of each month in this simple model. Estimated return means the annual return assumption. It is not a promise and real markets move unevenly. Time means how many years the projection runs before showing the ending balance.
It converts the annual return assumption into monthly growth, compounds the starting money, then adds each monthly contribution at the end of the month. That timing is why the result is an estimate, not a brokerage statement.
No. This version is for money going in, not money coming out. If you need retirement withdrawals, required minimum distributions, or a drawdown plan, use a dedicated retirement or payout calculator instead.
No. It shows the future balance in the dollars you enter. Use the Inflation Calculator beside it if you want to see how buying power could shrink over the same years.
In plain language: The calculator compounds the starting amount and monthly contributions using an estimated annual return converted to monthly growth. For the starter example, $5,000 plus $250 each month at a 7% annual return for 20 years projects about $150,425.36. The calculator shows $65,000 of contributions and about $85,425.36 of estimated growth.
Start with ending balance, then check total contributions and estimated growth. Contributions are the money you put in. Estimated growth is the part that came from the return assumption.
This is an investment projection, not investment advice. It does not include taxes, fees, inflation, withdrawals, market losses, account rules, or guaranteed returns. Before using the number for a real decision, compare it with your account fees, tax situation, risk level, and an official account or adviser source.
Check the time period, contribution amount, and return assumption. Then remember that fees, taxes, inflation, withdrawals, account limits, and market losses can change the real account value.
Fees can take money out every year, and the removed money no longer compounds. Investor.gov shows that even small annual fee differences can create a large gap over long periods.
No. It only does math from the numbers you enter. It does not choose stocks, funds, bonds, accounts, risk level, or tax strategy.
Because real investments can rise, fall, pause, or lose money. A steady return is useful for comparing scenarios, but it is not how markets usually move year by year.
It is close, but this page uses investment wording and monthly deposits. Use the Compound Interest Calculator when you need compounding-frequency controls, and use this page when the question is monthly investing.
No. The calculator runs in your browser tab. Recent answers stay only on the page while you use it, and they are not sent to a server.