Investment Calculator

With the investment calculator below, you can see how big your portfolio can grow after five, 10 or 20 years. You can use this free tool to help plan how much you need to save to hit your retirement goals.

As you enter the variables, the calculator automatically updates. You’ll see how the investment and interest compound each year. Also, below the results, you’ll find an explanation of the variables, along with a core investing concept.

Investment Calculator Variables

For a better understanding of the investment calculator inputs, here’s a breakdown…

Starting Amount: The beginning value of your investment
Additional Contribution: The same amount you’ll add to your portfolio each time period
Frequency: How often you make contributions and the interest compounds
Rate of Return: Your expected annual rate of return
Years to Grow: How long you’ll let the investment grow

Each of these components can have a significant impact on your portfolio’s growth. Try tweaking the numbers to see how it impacts your portfolio over time. Gaining a better understanding of these factors can help you improve your investing strategy and retirement planning.

Compound Interest Returns

It’s hard to fathom the power of compound interest. Albert Einstein is often attributed with the following quote…

Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it… he who doesn’t… pays it.

In the short term, it’s hard to see compounding at work. But over the long run, it really adds up. That’s why our investment growth calculator is so useful. You can see that total interest returns grow by a larger amount each year.

Saving and investing more today means you’ll earn even more interest down the road, so it’s important to get your money in early. This is one of the most important concepts in finance. Now that you have a better understanding, let’s look at some other useful ideas and resources.

How to Improve Investment Calculator Returns

As mentioned, increasing the amount you save and invest has a huge impact. You can see this easily with this investment calculator. And on the saving money side, it’s fairly straightforward. The goal is to keep more of your earnings than you spend. But on the investing side, it’s a little more challenging.

Average investor returns barely keep up with inflation. Inflation has hovered around 2% in recent history. Although stocks and top investors have returned 8% plus annually. This big gap is largely due to a misunderstanding of how markets work. This portfolio growth calculator can show you how your investments measure against inflation and what you need to do to beat it.

To gain a better understanding, feel free to continue exploring our free research. Our experts share a wide range of investing tips and ideas. You’ll find ideas ranging from upcoming IPOs to EV stocks and so much more.