This is a worked example. Change the values, then press Calculate.
Beyond just the final number, seeing how an investment grows year by year makes the long-term effect of compounding and regular contributions much clearer, this calculator includes that full schedule.
This calculator projects the combined growth of a starting lump sum and ongoing periodic contributions, then breaks the entire projection down year by year so you can see exactly how the balance builds over time, not just where it ends up.
A single final future value number hides how much of the growth comes early versus late, in most compound growth scenarios, the later years contribute disproportionately more to the total than the early years, even though the contribution amount stays the same. Seeing the full schedule makes this front-loaded-versus-back-loaded growth pattern visible, which is useful for understanding why starting early matters so much for long-term investing.
Because compounding works on an ever-larger base, interest earned in later years is calculated on a balance that already includes all previous growth, so the same rate produces a larger dollar amount as the balance grows, this is why starting to invest early has such an outsized long-term effect.
It shows how much of the total growth happened in each specific year, revealing that most compound growth is back-loaded into later years rather than spread evenly, which the single final future value figure alone doesn’t make clear.