Enter your savings details to see real growth — year-by-year, inflation-adjusted, with a full visual breakdown.
Future value (nominal)
—
Enter your details below
Real value (today's $)
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Inflation-adjusted
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Principal
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Contributions
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Interest earned
Starting point
$
Growth settings
%
7%
0.5%5%10%15%20%
yrs
$
✨
Advanced features
Inflation, taxes, goal planning, cost of delay
⚡ Enable the features you need:
📉 Inflation
See your real purchasing power
🏛 Tax drag
Account for annual tax on gains
🎯 Goal target
Track progress to your number
⏰ Cost of delay
What waiting costs you
%
US average ~3% historically. Current ~2.8%
%
For tax-deferred accounts (401k, IRA) set to 0%
$
Set a target to see when you'll reach it
Cost of delay is calculated automatically from your current inputs.
Growth chart
Balance over time
Total balance
Interest earned
Real value
Key insights
🎯
Goal progress
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⏰ Cost of delaying 1, 3, and 5 years
Start 1 year later—
Start 3 years later—
Start 5 years later—
✕2
Rule of 72
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⚡
Effective annual rate
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💡
Contribution impact
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Year-by-year breakdown
Year
Balance
Interest
Contributions
Real Value
🔒 Everything stays in your browser. No data is sent to any server. Your financial inputs are never stored or tracked.
Scenario comparison
Build up to 4 scenarios and compare them side by side.
Results
Balance over time
Milestone breakdown
Share & save
Share your setup or save it as a template — no account needed.
Shareable link
Your setup is encoded directly in the URL — no server, no account.
Tap "Generate" to create your link
Your current inputs
Save template
Save your current inputs as a named preset to quickly reload later.
Saved templates
📂
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Your data stays private. Everything lives in your browser's local storage. Nothing is ever sent to any server. Clearing your browser data will remove your saved info.
The Compounding Loop: Hacking the Time-Wealth Curve
In software, a recursive function that runs too long crashes the system; in finance, it builds an empire. Compound interest is the only legal “cheat code” in the modern economy. It is the process where your interest earns interest, creating a parabolic growth curve. The “TheMoneySheet” philosophy isn’t just about saving; it’s about understanding the Cost of Delay. Every day your money sits idle is a missed iteration in the wealth-building loop.
The “Early Commit” Strategy: Optimization Over Effort
Don’t wait for a “perfect” amount to invest. In a 2026 market, the frequency of contribution often outweighs the magnitude. Think of it as Financial CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment). Small, automated weekly injections into a compounding engine outperform large, erratic “lump sum” attempts 90% of the time. The goal is to maximize the number of “ticks” in your interest clock.
Market Update
2026 Market Pulse: The Yield Landscape
As of 2026, the era of “free money” is over. With standard High-Yield Savings Accounts (HYSA) hovering around 4.2%–4.8% and diversified index funds tracking a 7–9% historical mean (adjusted for modern volatility), the spread between “doing nothing” and “compounding” has never been wider. If your money isn’t earning at least 4%, it is technically losing value to the current 2026 inflation tailwinds.
About TheMoneySheet
TheMoneySheet is a free suite of personal finance calculators. No ads that follow you, no email required, no paywalls. Just honest tools that run entirely in your browser.
The Compound Interest Calculator
This calculator shows you how an initial investment grows over time using the standard compound interest formula, with optional monthly contributions, inflation adjustment, and tax drag. You can compare up to 4 scenarios side by side.
How it works
Compound interest: each period, interest is calculated on the current balance (principal + past interest)
Real value: nominal future value divided by cumulative inflation factor
Tax drag: annual interest earnings reduced by your marginal rate
Rule of 72: approximate doubling time = 72 ÷ annual rate
All calculations happen locally. Nothing is sent to any server.
Privacy Policy
Last updated: April 2026
TheMoneySheet calculators run entirely in your browser. We do not collect, transmit, or store any of the numbers you enter.
What we don't collect
Your income, savings, or loan amounts
Any personally identifiable information
Cookies beyond what your browser sets locally
localStorage
To restore your inputs on return visits, this calculator saves your last session to your browser's localStorage under the key cic_v2. This data never leaves your device. You can clear it at any time through your browser settings.
URL sharing
When you use the Share feature, your inputs are base64-encoded directly in the URL. No server receives or stores this data.
Terms of Use
TheMoneySheet calculators are provided for informational and educational purposes only. They are not financial, tax, or investment advice.
No warranty
Calculations are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Always consult a licensed financial professional before making investment decisions.
Accuracy
We strive for mathematical accuracy but make no guarantees. Results are estimates based on your inputs and simplified assumptions.
Use at your own risk
TheMoneySheet is not responsible for any financial decisions made based on these calculators.
Affiliate Disclosure
TheMoneySheet may contain links to third-party financial products and services. Some of these links are affiliate links — if you click and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
We only link to products we believe are genuinely useful. Affiliate relationships do not influence our calculator results or editorial content.
