Investment Return Calculator

Consistent periodic contributions, commonly called dollar-cost averaging, matter for a reason beyond just building the habit, they spread your purchases across market ups and downs rather than betting everything on a single entry price. Over a long enough horizon, that consistently smooths out the impact of short-term volatility compared to trying to time a single lump-sum investment perfectly.

Fees are the part people most often leave out of a projection, and they compound too, working against you the same way returns work for you. A 1% annual fee sounds small in isolation, but applied consistently over 25 or 30 years, it can meaningfully reduce your final balance, which is exactly why subtracting an estimated fee percentage from your assumed return rate produces a far more realistic number.

Enter your starting principal, a regular contribution amount, your expected annual return, and your investment timeframe. The calculator projects your ending balance, clearly separating total deposits from net investment earnings.

Historical broad market index returns have averaged somewhere around 7 to 10% annually before inflation, though that's a long-run average, not a guarantee for any specific year or decade, and past performance never guarantees future results. Your contribution amounts and projections stay entirely private, calculated locally.