Savings Growth Calculators: See How Your Money Compounds

Simple interest is paid only on the original deposit; compound interest is paid on the deposit plus interest already earned. Over one year the difference is small, but over many years compounding makes a large gap. Most savings accounts and CDs compound, which is why the growth calculators here use compound interest formulas.

Save more, start sooner, earn a higher rate, or keep more of the return by reducing taxes. Of these, the amount saved and the time are usually the most powerful and the most within your control. A higher rate helps too, but chasing yield can mean taking on risk or locking money up.

Not when you are only adding money and the return is constant, which is what these calculators assume. With real investments, the order of good and bad years matters more once you start withdrawing. For an account that pays a stated rate, such as a savings account, the balance grows steadily as long as the rate holds.

Compare their APYs. APY folds the compounding schedule into one yearly figure, so a daily-compounding account and a monthly-compounding account can be ranked directly. If an account lists only a stated rate and its compounding, the compounding frequency calculator can turn that into an effective yield for you. Banks must disclose APY, so it is usually on the rate sheet.

A nominal balance is the number of dollars in the account. A real balance adjusts that number for inflation to show what it would buy in today's prices. Most growth projections are nominal; the savings, taxes and inflation calculator also shows real value, which matters more for goals far in the future.

Because the earliest deposits have the most time to compound. Skipping them removes not just the money but all the growth it would have earned by the goal date. Over long horizons, that lost growth is usually several times larger than the skipped deposits, which the cost of waiting calculator shows directly.

Yes. Small regular deposits add up, and they compound like any other money. A few dollars a day redirected into savings can grow into a meaningful sum over many years. The habit savings calculator shows this for a daily, weekly or monthly expense, using a return you choose. Starting small also builds the habit, which makes larger deposits easier later.

In a taxable account, interest is taxed each year it is credited, so part of each year's growth leaves the account and cannot compound. The effect builds over time. Tax-advantaged accounts can avoid or defer that drag. The savings, taxes and inflation calculator models it as a reduction in the annual return.