Regular Contribution — the amount you add on each interval (e.g. $5 every day).
Contribution Interval — how often you contribute, which sets the matching compounding frequency:
Inflation Adjustment — defaults to Nominal (what you will have). Select an inflation rate to also see the real purchasing power of that figure in today's dollars. Both figures are shown — the nominal value does not disappear.
Default Rate: 10.7% = S&P 500 ten-year historical CAGR. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Nominal figures (pre-inflation). Educational illustration only.
Compound interest means your returns earn returns. Each contribution you make starts growing from the day it's invested, and the gains on it start earning their own gains the very next period. Over decades, this snowball effect creates a dramatic gap between what you put in and what you end up with — even on tiny daily contributions.
Why contribution frequency matters. The real power here is not a mathematical trick of compounding more often — it's the habit of investing every single day. Each dollar gets more time in the market than it would if you waited to invest weekly or monthly. The formula below uses the geometrically correct daily rate derived from the annual CAGR you enter, so the math always reconciles: 365 days of growth at the daily rate equals exactly one year of growth at the annual rate. No inflation of the numbers. Just honest math.
The formula this calculator uses — contributions compound at the rate matching your chosen interval:
FV = PMT × ((1 + interval_rate)^(periods) − 1) / interval_rateinterval_rate derived from your annual rate r (decimal):
Daily →
(1 + r)1/365 − 1 · 365 periods/yearWeekly →
(1 + r)7/365 − 1 · 52 periods/yearMonthly →
(1 + r)1/12 − 1 · 12 periods/yearInitial investment always compounds daily, separately:
FV_initial = PV × (1 + r)years
The takeaway: start as early as possible, contribute consistently, reinvest everything, and let time do the heavy lifting. Increasing the time period — not the rate — is the most powerful lever.
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