Updated · Built and checked by the PlinzoTools team, formulas tested against published sources
Calculate lump-sum growth at a compounding frequency you choose, from principal, rate, and time.
Interest earned: $6470.09
$16470.09
Compound interest grows a lump-sum principal because each period's interest is added to the balance and itself starts earning interest -- a fundamentally different (and much faster) growth pattern than simple interest. This calculator projects that growth from a single deposit with no recurring contributions, and also serves the identical "Future Value Calculator" search intent, since future value is exactly this formula's result.
Enter your principal, annual interest rate, number of years, and how often interest compounds (annually, quarterly, monthly, or daily).
Future Value = Principal × (1 + r/n)n × t
where r = annual rate, n = compounds per year, and t = years
More frequent compounding (daily vs. annually) results in slightly more growth for the same stated annual rate, since interest starts earning its own interest sooner -- the difference is usually modest but grows with time and rate.
For a plan involving both an initial amount and ongoing monthly contributions, use the Savings Calculator instead. For a fixed-term product like a CD, see the CD Calculator.
Consider a hypothetical $5,000 deposit at 6% left alone for 20 years. With annual compounding it grows to about $16,036. With daily compounding at the same stated rate it reaches about $16,599, a difference of roughly $560. That gap is real but much smaller than the gain from simply waiting longer or finding a higher rate. Try running the same numbers for 10 and 30 years: the growth accelerates in later years because the balance earning interest is bigger.
The rate you enter is a nominal annual rate, and the calculator applies the compounding frequency to it. The result is an effective yield slightly higher than the nominal rate when compounding is more frequent than annual. Banks often advertise the APY, which already includes compounding. If you enter an APY as the rate and also choose monthly compounding, you will overcount the compounding and slightly overstate the result. When you have an APY, choose annual compounding to reproduce it exactly.
Compound interest works against you on debt as well. A credit card balance that compounds daily at a high rate grows in the same way, which is why paying down high-rate debt is often treated as an effective, low-risk use of money. For personal advice about where to put your savings, consult a licensed financial professional.
Because interest is credited and starts earning its own interest sooner -- daily compounding credits interest 365 times a year versus annual compounding's once, giving compounding slightly more opportunities to build on itself.
Yes -- "future value" is exactly what this compound interest formula computes, so both terms describe the identical calculation.
Subtract the principal from the final value. The calculator shows this as interest earned, which is the total growth over the period.
No. The options are annual, quarterly, monthly and daily. Daily compounding is already very close to the continuous limit.
The tool is designed for growth, so use the Investment Return Calculator if you want to measure gains and losses between a start and end value.
Reference: Social Security Administration