Compound interest calculator
A projection at a constant rate, which no real investment delivers. It ignores tax, charges and the fact that returns arrive unevenly. Use it to compare choices, not to predict a balance.
Compound interest is interest earned on interest already earned. A balance growing at rate r for n periods multiplies by (1 + r) raised to n. Ten thousand at 7% with $250 added monthly reaches about $169,000 after twenty years, of which $60,000 is money you put in and the rest is growth.
How to use this calculator
The bar under the result shows the split between what you contributed and what the money earned. On short horizons contributions dominate and the rate barely matters; somewhere around year fifteen at these numbers the growth overtakes the contributions, and after that the rate is the only thing that moves the answer much. That crossover is the whole argument for starting early.
Questions
Less than the marketing suggests. Ten thousand at 10% for ten years is $25,937 compounded yearly and $27,179 compounded daily — under 5% apart, and the ceiling is continuous compounding at $27,183.