Compound Interest Table Calculator
Generate a clear year-by-year compound interest table so you can see how balance, contributions and growth change over time.
| Year | Balance | Total contributed | Interest/growth |
|---|
Why tables help
A final number is easy to misread. A table shows when contributions dominate the result and when compound growth begins to carry more of the balance.
Use with other calculators
After reviewing the table, use the Monthly amount to reach a goal to work backward from a target balance.
How to read a compound interest table
A table is more honest than a single final figure, because it shows the shape of the growth rather than just its destination. These rows use the values this page starts with: $10,000 to begin, $250 a month, 7% a year compounded monthly.
| Milestone | Balance | You contributed | Interest earned | Interest per $1 contributed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $13,821 | $13,000 | $821 | 6% |
| Year 5 | $32,074 | $25,000 | $7,074 | 28% |
| Year 10 | $63,368 | $40,000 | $23,368 | 58% |
| Year 15 | $107,730 | $55,000 | $52,730 | 96% |
| Year 20 | $170,619 | $70,000 | $100,619 | 144% |
Year one produces $821 of interest on $13,000 contributed. It is barely visible, and it is supposed to be — the money has not been invested long. By year twenty the account earns roughly $11,392 of interest in that single year, more than thirteen times what the whole first year produced, on contributions that never changed.
Interest per dollar contributed climbs from about 6 cents in year one to roughly $1.44 by year twenty. That ratio is compounding, stated plainly: the same deposit buys more growth the earlier it arrives, because it has more periods left to work through.
Why a year-by-year table beats a single number
- It shows when growth overtakes saving. Until interest exceeds total contributions, the balance is mostly your own money. Knowing which year that flips changes how a plan feels.
- It exposes the assumption. A smooth table is a reminder that the model assumes an identical return every year. Real returns are not smooth, and a table makes the fiction visible rather than hiding it in one figure.
- It makes withdrawals thinkable. If you may need the money in year eight, the year-eight row matters far more than the year-twenty one.
- It is checkable. You can verify any row by hand with the formula, which you cannot do with a single output.
Change the compounding frequency at the top of this page and every row moves. Switch to yearly and the same inputs finish at $161,683 instead of $170,619 — a gap of about $8,936 created purely by how often interest is applied. The compounding frequency guide covers why that gap is smaller than most people expect.
Questions about compound interest tables
How do I build a compound interest table by hand?
Start with the opening balance. For each period, add the contribution if it is paid at the start, multiply by (1 + r/n), then add the contribution if it is paid at the end. Carry the result forward. Doing one year manually is the fastest way to see why period-by-period and annual shortcuts disagree.
Why does my spreadsheet give a different total?
The usual culprit is treating twelve monthly deposits as one annual deposit. That credits January's money and December's money with the same growth, which overstates the result. This page compounds each month separately.
Can I use this table for a loan?
The growth mechanics are the same, but a loan schedule also subtracts payments from the balance, so the table shape is inverted. Use this page for savings and investments; for debt decisions the debt vs investing calculator is closer.
Does the table include tax or fees?
No. Both reduce the effective rate. A simple way to approximate an annual fee is to subtract it from the rate before you calculate — a 7% return with a 0.9% total charge behaves much like 6.1%.
Deposit schedule
The monthly budget is grouped into equal deposits per selected compounding period. Choose monthly compounding for a monthly deposit schedule. A final partial period earns growth but receives no deposit. See the exact model and verification method.