Calculate compound investment growth with regular contributions
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Our investment calculator projects how your portfolio grows over time when you make regular monthly contributions and earn compound returns. It provides a year-by-year breakdown showing start balance, contributions, interest earned, and end balance for each year.
Successful investing is built on two pillars: time in the market and consistent contributions. This calculator shows you how combining an initial lump sum with ongoing monthly investments can build substantial wealth, even with modest returns. The key is starting early and staying disciplined.
Use this calculator to model different investment scenarios. Adjust the initial investment, monthly contribution, expected return rate, and compounding frequency to see how each variable affects your final portfolio value. The detailed growth table helps you track your wealth accumulation year by year.
The calculator compounds the balance at the selected frequency each year, adding monthly contributions and applying compound growth to the entire balance periodically.
More frequent compounding leads to slightly higher returns because interest is calculated and added to the principal more often. However, the difference becomes less significant over very long time horizons.
A diversified stock portfolio has historically returned 7-10% annually on average. More conservative portfolios with bonds and cash equivalents typically return 3-5% annually.
Most financial advisors recommend rebalancing your portfolio annually or when any asset class deviates more than 5% from its target allocation. Regular rebalancing helps maintain your desired risk level.
Dollar-cost averaging is the practice of investing a fixed amount at regular intervals regardless of market conditions. This strategy reduces the impact of market volatility and removes the emotional aspect of trying to time the market.
Studies show that lump sum investing outperforms dollar-cost averaging about two-thirds of the time in rising markets. However, DCA can be psychologically easier for risk-averse investors and helps manage timing risk.