See what your decades are worth
This is arithmetic on assumptions you choose, not a projection this site stands behind. It takes the numbers you type in — including a rate of return that nobody can know in advance — and compounds them. Change that one assumption and the answer moves further than any decision you can actually make, which is what the comparison table below is for.
Deducted from the return above. A broad index fund is typically well under 0.2%; an actively managed fund is often 1% or more.
Used only to restate the result in today's money. It does not change the growth rate.
Presets reflect the S&P 500's rough historical averages — about 10% a year nominal, about 7% after inflation — and a more cautious 5%. A past average is not a rate you are entitled to. Costs are deducted below; tax is not, because it depends on your account and country — see Accounts & Tax.
The same plan at other rates of return
| Annual return (net of costs) | Projected value | In today's money |
|---|
Nothing changes between these rows except the assumed return. The distance between the top and the bottom is larger than almost any decision you can make about contributions — which is the honest reason this tool cannot tell you what you will have. Use it to size your savings rate, the input you control, not to predict a balance.
Milestones, year by year
| Milestone | Contributed | Growth | Portfolio value |
|---|
Notice how the "Growth" column overtakes "Contributed" somewhere in the second decade — the point where the portfolio starts earning more than you do. That crossover is the entire argument of Principles, Idea 1.
"The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient."
Rule of 72, in your head
Divide 72 by your return to get the years each doubling takes: at 7%, about 10 years; at 10%, about 7. A 30-year horizon at 7% is roughly three doublings — 8× your money — which is why the last decade always looks implausible next to the first.
Reading the projection honestly
Actual 30-year outcomes vary widely around any average: the same contributions could end meaningfully higher or lower depending on the sequence of returns. Treat the output as a planning anchor for your savings rate — the input you actually control — not a prediction of your account statement.