Future Value Calculator
Work out the future value of a present-day lump sum and a stream of regular payments at any nominal annual rate, term, and compounding frequency — the textbook time-value-of-money formula behind Excel's FV() function.
Future value
£125,510.22
- Starting amount
- £10,000.00
- Total payments
- £48,000.00
- Total contributed
- £58,000.00
- Interest earned
- £67,510.22
Future value combines a starting lump sum compounded at rate r for n periods with the future value of a stream of equal payments at the same rate: FV = PV·(1+r)^n + PMT · ((1+r)^n − 1)/r · (1 + r·t). With end-of-period payments t=0 (Excel type=0); with beginning-of-period payments t=1 (Excel type=1) — annuity-due payments earn one extra period of interest each.
How to use this calculator
Enter the starting amount you hold today, the regular payment you plan to add each period, the annual interest rate, and how many years you want to project. Choose how often payments and compounding occur, and whether payments land at the beginning or end of each period. The future value updates as you type.
How the calculation works
The calculator uses the standard time-value-of-money formula: FV = PV · (1+r)^n + PMT · ((1+r)^n − 1) / r · (1 + r·t). Here r is the period rate (annual rate divided by periods per year), n is the total number of periods, and t is 0 for end-of-period payments (ordinary annuity, Excel type=0) or 1 for beginning-of-period payments (annuity due, Excel type=1). Setting PMT = 0 reduces it to the lump-sum case FV = PV · (1+r)^n; setting PV = 0 reduces it to the pure savings-plan case.
Worked example
Example: $10,000 starting balance plus $200 per month at a 6% nominal annual rate (monthly compounding) for 20 years, end-of-period payments. Period rate r = 0.005, periods n = 240. Lump-sum future value = 10,000 · 1.005^240 ≈ $33,102.04. Payment future value = 200 · (1.005^240 − 1) / 0.005 ≈ $92,408.18. Total FV ≈ $125,510.22 from $58,000 of contributions, with about $67,510 of compound interest. Switching to beginning-of-period payments multiplies the payments portion by (1 + r), increasing FV to roughly $125,972.26.
Frequently asked questions
What is future value in finance?
Future value is the projected worth, at some date in the future, of money you have today or money you plan to add along the way, after a stated rate of return is applied for a stated number of periods. It is the opposite side of the time-value-of-money coin from present value: present value asks "what is a future cash flow worth today?", future value asks "what will a today's cash flow be worth later?" Both rely on the same compounding maths.
How is future value different from compound interest?
Compound interest is the mechanism by which money grows over time at a periodic rate; future value is the result. A compound interest calculator typically focuses on a lump sum plus optional contributions and outputs the final balance. A future value calculator does the same calculation in time-value-of-money language and adds the choice between end-of-period (ordinary annuity) and beginning-of-period (annuity due) payment timing, mirroring the type parameter in Excel's FV() function. Use whichever framing is more intuitive — the underlying maths is identical when timing and frequency match.
What is the difference between end-of-period and beginning-of-period payments?
End-of-period (ordinary annuity) payments land at the close of each period — typical for loan repayments, bond coupons, and most savings plans. Beginning-of-period (annuity due) payments land at the start of each period — typical for rents, leases, and some insurance and pension contributions. Each beginning-of-period payment earns one extra period of interest, so for the same rate, term, and payment, the future value of an annuity due is exactly (1 + r) times the future value of an ordinary annuity, where r is the period rate.
Does this match Excel's FV() function?
Yes. Excel =FV(rate, nper, pmt, pv, type) returns the future value of a TVM stream with the opposite sign convention (positive pmt is treated as an outflow, so FV comes out negative). This calculator shows the absolute value. So =FV(0.06/12, 240, -200, -10000, 0) ≈ 125,510.22 matches the worked example above with end-of-period payments. With type=1 (beginning-of-period), =FV(0.06/12, 240, -200, -10000, 1) ≈ 125,973.95.
Should I enter the nominal or the effective annual rate?
Enter the nominal annual rate — the headline rate most providers quote. The calculator divides it by the number of compounding periods per year to get the period rate, matching the standard convention in finance textbooks and spreadsheet TVM functions. If a provider quotes only an effective annual rate (EAR or APY), you can convert: nominal = m · ((1 + EAR)^(1/m) − 1), where m is periods per year. Note: monthly compounding at a 6% nominal rate produces a slightly higher EAR (~6.17%) than annual compounding at the same nominal rate.
What about inflation and tax?
The result is nominal — the number of currency units at the future date, not adjusted for purchasing power. To estimate the real future value, subtract your expected inflation rate from the rate you enter (a 7% nominal rate with 2% inflation is roughly 5% real). For tax, the calculator assumes growth is sheltered (for example inside an IRA, ISA, or pension wrapper). For a taxable account, deduct your marginal rate from each period's interest before compounding — that quickly becomes a separate calculation and is not built into this simple TVM model.