See how your investments grow over time with compound interest and inflation-adjusted returns
This free Canadian investment calculator estimates how your money will grow over time based on your starting amount, regular contributions, expected annual return, and inflation rate. Enter your initial investment, choose your contribution frequency and amount, set your expected annual return and time horizon, and the calculator will show your projected future value in both nominal and inflation-adjusted dollars. Because it works from an expected rate of return, you can use it to model any kind of portfolio, including stocks, ETFs, index funds, and mutual funds.
Compound interest means your returns earn returns. Each year's gains are added to your principal and generate their own growth the following year, so compound growth builds on itself. Over long time horizons this creates exponential rather than linear growth, illustrating how your time horizon is one of the biggest factors in projected investment outcomes. Even small regular contributions, given enough time, can grow into significant wealth. The calculator's chart illustrates this curve so you can see exactly when compounding starts to accelerate your portfolio.
The Rule of 72 is a quick way to estimate how long it takes an investment to double. Divide 72 by your expected annual return: at an 8% return your money roughly doubles every 9 years (72 ÷ 8), and at 10% about every 7.2 years. It is an approximation rather than an exact figure, but it is a handy way to sanity-check long-term growth. For a precise projection that also factors in your contributions and inflation, use the calculator above.
Your future value depends on four things: how much you start with, how much you contribute and how often, your expected annual return, and how many years you stay invested. For example, $50,000 invested for 20 years at a 7% annual return grows to roughly $193,000 on its own, and adding monthly contributions raises that figure substantially. Enter your own numbers above to see exactly how much your investment could be worth in 10, 20, or 30 years, in both nominal and today's dollars.
Your nominal return is the raw growth of your investment before accounting for inflation. Your inflation-adjusted return (also called real return) shows what your money will actually be worth in today's purchasing power. For example, if your investment grows to $500,000 in 20 years but inflation averaged 2.5% annually, the real value is significantly less. This inflation calculator shows both figures so you can plan with a realistic picture of your future wealth.