Future value calculator

This projection assumes the same return every year, which real markets never do. It knows nothing about taxes, inflation, fees, or a bad decade, and the rate you type is a nominal annual figure: with monthly compounding it is divided by twelve each period rather than treated as an effective yearly rate. Growth on a long horizon usually outgrows the money you paid in, which is the honest appeal of starting early, but the table is arithmetic, not a promise.