Future Value of Annuity Calculator
Find out what your regular payments will actually grow into. Compound interest is about the closest thing to free money you'll ever get — this shows you exactly how much of it is yours.
Your projected future value will appear here.
What is the future value of an annuity?
An annuity, in the financial sense, is simply a series of equal payments made at regular intervals — think $300 a month into a savings account, or a $500 rent payment every month for a year. The future value of an annuity answers one specific question: if you keep making those equal payments and they earn interest along the way, what will the whole series be worth on a specific future date?
This is different from asking what a single lump sum grows into. With an annuity, every payment starts earning interest from the moment it's made, so the first payment in the series has far more time to compound than the last one. Adding all those individually compounded payments together is what produces the final future value, and it's exactly what this calculator automates for you.
Ordinary annuity vs. annuity due: timing changes everything
The single biggest factor most people overlook is when each payment happens within its period. An ordinary annuity pays at the end of each period — this describes most loan payments, bond coupons, and standard savings contributions. An annuity due pays at the beginning of each period instead, which is how rent, insurance premiums, and lottery payouts typically work.
That one-period head start matters more than it sounds like it should. Because an annuity due's payments start compounding immediately, its future value is always higher than an otherwise identical ordinary annuity, by a factor of exactly (1 + i), where i is the interest rate per period. Over a short annuity the difference is small change. Over decades, it can add up to a meaningfully larger balance for the exact same payments and rate.
The formulas behind the future value calculator
Ordinary annuity: FV = PMT × [(1 + i)ⁿ − 1] ÷ i
Annuity due: FV = PMT × [(1 + i)ⁿ − 1] ÷ i × (1 + i)
Here, PMT is your payment amount, i is the interest rate per payment period, and n is the total number of payments. When your compounding frequency matches your payment frequency — monthly contributions into an account that compounds monthly, for example — i and n are straightforward: i is simply the annual rate divided by 12, and n is the number of months.
Real accounts don't always line up that neatly, though. Some accounts compound daily while you contribute monthly, or compound annually while you pay quarterly. When that happens, this calculator converts your nominal annual rate into an effective annual rate first, then derives an equivalent periodic rate that matches your actual payment frequency, so the math stays accurate instead of silently assuming everything lines up.
Worked example: $300 a month for 20 years
Say you contribute $300 a month into an account earning 7% annually, compounded monthly, with a $1,000 starting balance, for 20 years. Run those numbers through the calculator above and you'll see a future value well into six figures — with a large share of that total coming from interest, not from the money you actually deposited. That gap between contributions and total future value is the entire point of starting early: time does a large part of the work that would otherwise have to come from a bigger monthly payment.
From building value to drawing it down
Calculating future value answers the accumulation question: how big will this get? A separate and equally important question is what happens next, once you actually have that balance and want to turn it into income instead of continuing to grow it. That's the decumulation side of annuities, and it's handled differently — instead of asking how a series of payments grows into a lump sum, you're asking how a lump sum can be paid back out over time. The annuity payout calculator picks up exactly where this one leaves off, so once you know what your annuity could grow to, you can see what it could realistically pay you later.
A few things that quietly change your result
- Ordinary vs. due: the same numbers, run as an annuity due, always produce a higher future value.
- Compounding frequency: more frequent compounding at the same nominal rate produces a slightly higher effective return.
- Starting early: two extra decades of compounding usually matters more than a couple of extra percentage points of return.
- Mismatched frequencies: compounding monthly while contributing quarterly, or the reverse, changes your effective periodic rate — this calculator handles the conversion automatically.
- A starting deposit: even a modest lump sum added at the start compounds for the entire term and can meaningfully boost the final total.
Future Value of Annuity Calculator FAQs
What's the difference between an ordinary annuity and an annuity due?
An ordinary annuity pays or deposits money at the end of each period, which is how most mortgages, car loans, and typical savings contributions work. An annuity due pays at the beginning of each period, like rent, insurance premiums, or lottery payouts. Because an annuity due's money starts earning interest one period sooner, its future value is always a little higher than an otherwise identical ordinary annuity.
What's the formula for the future value of an annuity?
For an ordinary annuity, FV = PMT × [(1 + i)ⁿ − 1] ÷ i, where PMT is the payment amount, i is the interest rate per period, and n is the total number of periods. For an annuity due, multiply that same result by (1 + i), since each payment gets one extra period of compounding. This calculator applies both versions automatically based on which type you select.
What happens if my compounding frequency and payment frequency don't match?
It's common to compound monthly while contributing on a different schedule, or the reverse. This calculator converts your nominal annual rate into an equivalent periodic rate that matches your payment frequency, using the effective annual rate as the bridge between the two. That keeps the math accurate instead of quietly assuming compounding and contributions always line up, which they often don't in real accounts.
Can I include a starting balance, not just recurring payments?
Yes. Many real accounts start with an existing balance and then add regular contributions on top, so this calculator includes an optional starting deposit field. That initial amount compounds separately at your entered interest rate for the full term, and its future value is added to the annuity's future value for a combined total.
How much of my future value comes from interest versus my own contributions?
The results break this out directly: total contributions is simply what you put in (starting deposit plus every payment), and total interest is whatever the future value adds on top of that. Over long timeframes with decent interest rates, it's common for interest to eventually outpace your own contributions entirely — that's compound interest doing the heavy lifting.
Does a higher interest rate always mean a much bigger future value?
Yes, and the effect compounds with time, not just the rate itself. A modest rate difference barely matters over two or three years, but stretched across two or three decades, even a couple of extra percentage points can add up to a dramatically larger future value, because each year's growth is now growing on top of a bigger base.
What is a growing annuity, and does this calculator handle it?
A growing annuity is one where each payment increases by a fixed percentage over the last one, often used to model contributions that rise with a salary or with inflation. This calculator focuses on level, equal payments — the standard ordinary annuity and annuity due formulas — rather than a growing series, since level contributions cover the vast majority of everyday savings and loan scenarios.
Is this the same as a present value of annuity calculation?
No, they answer opposite questions. Future value tells you what a series of payments will grow into by a future date. Present value tells you what that same series of future payments is worth in today's dollars. If you already have an annuity balance and want to know what it can pay you going forward instead of how it grew, the annuity payout calculator answers that side of the question.
This tool is for educational purposes only. Always verify important results with a qualified professional.
