Compound Interest Calculator
See how your savings and investment account balances can grow with the magic of compound interest.
The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only.
Compound Interest Calculator
Total Balance
$11,000.00
Using This Compound Interest Calculator
What is compound interest?
Compound interest is the interest you earn on your original money, plus the interest that keeps accumulating on top of it. Simply put, it's "interest on interest." Compound interest allows your savings to grow exponentially faster over time.
How to calculate your interest
To determine the interest that can grow in your savings account, follow these quick steps. The calculator's results will update automatically as you adjust the fields:
Initial deposit: Enter the starting amount you are putting into your account.
Years of growth: Confirm the number of years your account will earn interest.
Estimated rate of return: Add the expected annual interest rate (APY) for the account.
Compound frequency: You can leave this on the default setting unless you know your account compounds interest at a specific frequency (like daily or annually).
Contributions: Test out different contribution amounts and frequencies to see the massive difference consistent saving can make over time.
Interest Calculator Example
Let’s say you want to put $10,000 into a high-yield savings account with a 4% annual yield, compounded daily. You don't plan to add any extra funds after your first deposit.
To calculate your earnings, here is exactly what you would enter into the calculator above:
Initial deposit: $10,000
Years of growth: 1 (Start by entering “1”, then increase this to see how much you can earn over a longer period.)
Estimated rate of return: 4%
Compound frequency: Daily
Contribution amount: $0 (Since you aren't making extra deposits, keep this at zero.)
Contribution frequency: Ignore this field
The Results: After one year, you’ll earn $408.08 in interest.
If you leave your money in that account for a second year, you'll earn $424.74 in interest in year two, bringing your total interest earned to $832.32. You earn more in the second year because the interest is being calculated on your initial deposit plus the interest you already earned in year one.
After 10 years, you will have earned $4,917.92 in pure interest, giving you a total balance of $14,917.92.
(Note: This is just an illustrative example. Annual percentage yields on actual savings accounts are subject to change at any time.)
Compounding With Additional Contributions
As impressive as compound interest is on its own, true financial progress depends on making steady contributions. Let’s go back to our savings account example and see the impact of regular deposits.
We started with $10,000 and ended up with $4,917.92 in interest after 10 years (at a 4% annual yield, compounded daily).
Now, imagine you deposit an additional $100 at the end of each month.
Enter "$100" in the "Contribution amount" field, then select "Monthly" for the "Contribution frequency" option. By making those small, consistent additions, you would end up with a total balance of $29,647.91 after 10 years!