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Time Value of Money Calculator
Pick any one of future value, present value, payment or interest rate to solve for, fill in the rest, and the calculator works out the missing piece and charts how the balance moves over time.
Written by TopicDrill Editorial Team·Updated June 2026
Balance across periods
Balance
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How the time value of money calculator works
Every time value problem connects five numbers: a present value, a future value, a level payment, a per-period interest rate and a count of periods. This tool lets you nominate one of them as the unknown. For future value, present value and payment it rearranges the standard annuity formula directly. For the interest rate it has no closed-form answer, so it searches for the rate that makes the projected balance land exactly on your target.
The chart traces the balance one period at a time, applying interest and then your payment in each step. Watching the curve makes the compounding visible: early periods barely move, while the later years climb steeply as earnings begin earning on themselves.
A worked example
Suppose you have 5,000 dollars today, add 200 dollars at the end of every month, and earn 6 percent a year compounded monthly for 20 years. Solving for future value returns roughly 112,000 dollars. Switch the unknown to interest rate, keep the same deposits and ask what rate reaches a 150,000 dollar target, and the tool reports the precise annual return that would be required.
Things to keep in mind
The result assumes a steady rate and steady payments, which real markets rarely deliver, so treat it as a planning estimate rather than a guarantee. For a primer on the concept from a neutral source, see Investor.gov. If you only need to grow a single lump sum and contributions forward, our future value calculator is a faster starting point.
Frequently asked questions
What is the time value of money?
The time value of money is the idea that a dollar today is worth more than the same dollar in the future, because money you hold now can be invested and earn a return. Five quantities describe it: present value, future value, payment, the interest rate and the number of periods. Know any four and you can solve for the fifth.
What does solving for the interest rate tell me?
It returns the annual rate that ties your present value, future value, payment and time horizon together. If you put in a starting amount, a target balance and a schedule of deposits, the solved rate is the yearly return you would need to hit that target. The tool finds it by searching for the rate where the projected balance exactly matches your future value.
Why does choosing payments at the start of the period change the answer?
When payments arrive at the start of each period instead of the end, every deposit earns one extra period of interest. That is called an annuity-due, and it always produces a slightly larger future value or a slightly smaller required payment than an ordinary annuity at the same rate and term.
How does compounding frequency affect the result?
Periods per year sets how often interest is applied and how often payments occur. At the same nominal annual rate, more frequent compounding produces a higher future value because earnings start compounding sooner. Monthly compounding, for example, edges out annual compounding, and the gap widens with higher rates and longer horizons.
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