Compound Interest Calculator

2 min

Estimate how savings can grow with regular contributions and compound returns.

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Your inputs

CAD
$
CAD
$
% / year
years
Inflation and compounding (optional)Change how often interest is applied and what inflation you assume
% / year

Results update as you type

After 20 years

$264,122

You put in $130,000. The other $134,122 is growth. In today's money that balance is worth $177,747.

Growth overtakes your deposits in year 20

From then on the portfolio earns more than you put in, without you doing anything differently.

By year 20, growth is 51% of the balance.

How the balance builds

BalanceWhat you put in
$264K$132K$0K
NowYear 5Year 10Year 15Year 20

What makes up the final balance

  • Starting balance$10,0004%
  • What you contribute$120,00045%
  • Growth$134,12251%

If returns come in differently

Nobody gets the average every year. This is the same plan at other rates.

4% (-2%)$205,613
6% as entered$264,122
8% (+2%)$343,778

After inflation

$177,747

What $264,122 in 20 years buys in today's dollars at 2% inflation.

Nominal balance$264,122
Lost to inflation$86,376

Keep going

$264,122 assumes every contribution actually happens.

That is the assumption this projection is most sensitive to, and the one nobody checks. Fino tracks what you really put away each month against the plan on this page.

  • Contributions tracked automatically across your accounts
  • See whether you are keeping pace with $120,000 a period
  • Net worth updated as balances move, not as you remember to check
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Estimates are based on the information and assumptions you provide and are for educational purposes only. This is not financial, tax, legal or lending advice.

What this means

  • Of the $264,122 you end with, $134,122 is growth rather than money you put in — about 51% of the total.
  • At 2.00% inflation, that balance buys what $177,747 buys today.
  • Contributing at the start of each period instead of the end would give every deposit one extra period of growth.
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Assumptions & methodology

  • Returns are constant and reinvested, which real markets never are.
  • Contributions are made at the selected interval and timing.
  • No fees, taxes or withdrawals are included.

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Common questions

What people ask most about the Compound Interest Calculator.

How is compound interest calculated?

Each period, interest is added to the balance, and the next period's interest is calculated on that larger balance. The standard formula is A = P(1 + r/n)^(nt), where P is the starting amount, r the annual rate, n the number of compounding periods per year, and t the number of years. Regular contributions are added on top and compound for however long they remain invested.

Does compounding more often make a meaningful difference?

Less than most people expect. At a 7% annual return, monthly compounding beats annual compounding by roughly 0.23 percentage points of effective yield. Over long horizons the contribution amount and the number of years matter far more than the compounding frequency.

Does this calculator account for inflation?

The projection is in nominal dollars, so a balance 30 years out is not directly comparable to money today. If you want a rough real-terms figure, subtract your inflation assumption from the return rate — entering 4% instead of 7% approximates a 7% return against 3% inflation.

What rate of return should I assume?

There is no correct answer, only a range you should be willing to be wrong about. Broad equity indexes have historically averaged roughly 7% to 10% annually before inflation over multi-decade periods, but with individual years ranging from deeply negative to strongly positive. Run the calculation two or three times across a range rather than treating a single number as a forecast.