Projected Balance at Retirement
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Years to Grow
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Total Contributions
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Total Growth
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Assumes constant monthly contributions and a fixed average annual return, compounded monthly.
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This calculator compounds monthly, which is how most retirement and brokerage accounts actually work. The 'total growth' figure is the part of your final balance that came purely from investment returns, not from money you put in — for long horizons, growth often ends up outpacing your own contributions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is compound growth calculated here?
We use the standard future value formula with monthly compounding: FV = PV(1+r)^n + PMT × [(1+r)^n − 1] / r.
What return rate should I use?
7% is a common long-term average for a diversified stock portfolio; conservative planners often use 5-6%.