This free investment calculator shows how your money grows when you combine a starting lump sum with regular contributions and let compounding do the rest. Enter your initial amount, monthly or annual contribution, expected return, and time horizon to project your portfolio’s future value, total growth, and growth multiple. Add an inflation rate to see real, today’s-money value, or set a goal to check whether your plan reaches your target. No signup required.
The lump sum you start with. Enter 0 if none.
Raise your contribution each year (e.g. with pay rises).
Optional. Shows real, today's-money value.
Set a target to see if this plan reaches it.
Projected Future Value
$691,150.47
after 30 years · your money grows 3.64x
Total Invested
$190,000.00
Total Growth
$501,150.47
What makes up your final value
If your return is higher or lower
Conservative
5%
$460,806.76
Expected
7%
$691,150.47
Optimistic
9%
$1,062,677.50
Put this plan into action. Auritrack tracks your investments and net worth in one place, so you can watch your portfolio grow against your goals in real time.
Try Auritrack FreeAdd your initial investment, the lump sum you are starting with. If you are beginning from scratch, simply enter 0 and rely on your recurring contributions.
Enter how much you plan to invest on a regular basis and choose whether you contribute monthly or annually. You can also add an annual increase to reflect future pay rises.
Set an expected annual return, the number of years you will stay invested, and how often returns compound. A diversified stock portfolio has historically returned roughly 7% per year after inflation.
Enter an inflation rate to see the real, in-today’s-money value of your portfolio, and set a goal amount to check whether your plan reaches your target.
Instantly see your projected future value, total invested, total growth, and growth multiple. Expand the year-by-year breakdown to watch compounding accelerate over time.
Every investment grows through two forces working together: the money you contribute and the returns that money earns. In the early years, most of your balance is simply cash you have added. But as your returns start earning their own returns, growth begins to outpace contributions. This is compounding, and it is why the composition bar in the calculator shifts steadily from grey to orange over time. In a typical 30-year plan, the growth portion often ends up larger than everything you ever put in. The three levers that shape the outcome are how much you invest, the rate of return you earn, and how long you stay invested. Of these, time is the most powerful, because compounding rewards patience more than it rewards large deposits made late. To see the raw mechanics of compounding on their own, our compound interest calculator breaks the formula down step by step.
A lump sum is a strong start, but consistent contributions are what turn a modest beginning into a large portfolio. Investing a fixed amount on a regular schedule, sometimes called dollar-cost averaging, means you automatically buy more shares when prices are low and fewer when prices are high, smoothing out your average purchase price and removing the temptation to time the market. Contributing regularly also makes investing a habit rather than a decision you have to make each month. The annual increase option in this calculator reflects a simple but effective strategy: raise your contribution a little every year, ideally in step with pay rises, so your investing grows alongside your income. Even a 3% to 5% annual increase can add a meaningful sum to your final balance over a few decades. If you invest a fixed monthly amount and want to focus purely on that pattern, our SIP calculator models systematic monthly investing with step-ups.
The return you assume has a huge effect on your projection, so it pays to be honest rather than optimistic. Over long periods, the broad US stock market has returned roughly 10% per year before inflation, or about 7% after inflation. A balanced mix of stocks and bonds might average 5% to 7%, while safer holdings like bonds and cash typically return less. Most careful planners use a figure between 6% and 8% for a stock-heavy, long-term portfolio and treat anything above that as a bonus rather than an expectation. Because no one can predict the future, this calculator automatically shows a conservative and an optimistic scenario alongside your expected return, so you can see how sensitive your plan is to the assumption. If your real return lands two percentage points lower than you hoped, would your plan still reach your goal? Running that scenario now is far more comfortable than discovering the answer later.
One of the most reliable findings in investing is that staying invested consistently tends to beat trying to jump in and out at the perfect moments. Markets do most of their rising in short, unpredictable bursts, and missing just a handful of the best days over a few decades can dramatically reduce your total return. Because those best days often cluster near the worst days, investors who sell in a panic frequently miss the recovery that follows. The practical takeaway is to start early, contribute regularly, and leave your investments alone through the inevitable ups and downs. The year-by-year breakdown in this calculator makes the reward for patience visible: notice how the annual growth figure is small in the first few years and grows larger each year as your balance compounds. That accelerating curve only appears for investors who give it enough time to develop, which is why many people pair this tool with a longer-range retirement calculator to plan across their full working life.
A projection in raw dollars can be misleading, because a dollar decades from now will not buy what a dollar buys today. At an average inflation rate of around 3%, prices roughly double every 24 years, so a projected balance of $1 million in 30 years might have the purchasing power of only around $400,000 in today’s money. Entering an inflation rate reveals this real value, which is the number that actually matters for planning how you will live off your investments. Fees deserve the same scrutiny. An annual fund or advisory fee is charged on your entire balance every year, so it compounds against you exactly the way returns compound for you. A seemingly small 1% fee can quietly consume a large share of your lifetime gains. The simplest way to model fees in this calculator is to reduce your expected return by the fee percentage: if you expect 7% and pay 1% in fees, plan with 6%. Keeping costs low and staying invested for the long run are two of the few investment decisions almost entirely within your control.
See how your money grows over time with daily, monthly, or yearly compounding. Visualize growth with interactive charts.
Estimate the future value of your monthly SIP investments with compounding. See total invested, returns, and growth over time in any currency.
See whether you are on track to retire comfortably, how large your nest egg will grow, and how much to save each month to close the gap.
Find out exactly when you will hit your first million and how much to invest each month to get there faster.
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Auritrack brings your investments, savings, and net worth into one clear picture, so you can track your portfolio against your goals in real time. Supports all currencies with AI-powered live exchange rate conversion. Free to start.
Disclaimer: This tool is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, tax, investment, or legal advice. Results are estimates based on the inputs you provide and may not reflect actual financial outcomes. Always consult a qualified financial professional before making financial decisions.
