Investment Return Calculator
Monitor Investment Performance in a Personalized Dashboard
Monitor Investment Performance in a Personalized Dashboard
Investment Calculator: Estimate Return & Growth
Use this investment calculator to estimate how an initial investment and ongoing contributions could grow over time. Simply enter your planned contributions, investment timeline, anticipated rate of return, and compounding frequency to get started.
The information provided on this page is for educational purposes only and isn't intended as investment advice. Empower doesn't offer specific investment recommendations or brokerage services through this tool.
Keep reading to learn more about the Empower investment calculator, how it works, and the types of investments it models.
How to use this investment calculator
The goal of any investor is to maximize returns while minimizing any risk factors. It makes sense to track your investments and see how they could grow over time. To use the Empower investment calculator to evaluate your potential returns, you should have the following information handy:
Initial contribution: The amount of your initial investment.
Recurring contributions and frequency: How often you plan to make recurring contributions, such as weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.
Investment period: The number of years you expect to hold the investment, such as 10, 20, or 30 years.
Anticipated rate of return: The annual rate of return you hope to earn from this investment.
Our investment calculator uses the following standard formula for determining return on investment (ROI):
ROI = Net return (final value of investment - initial value of investment) ÷ the cost of the initial investment × 100
What rate of return should I use for this investment calculator?
The rate of return you may achieve varies based on the type and level of investment and the risks involved. The average annual stock market return rate has historically been around 6% to 7% after accounting for inflation. If you don’t know your approximate rate of return, you may consider using this as a guide for estimating your return rate. Keep in mind that your actual return rate will depend on several factors, including your asset allocation, tax liability, and overall market performance.
Assumptions
To provide an estimate of your potential investment growth, this calculator assumes that contributions are made at the end of the contribution period.
How investment growth works
This investment calculator helps to estimate future returns on investments you make now. However, it's essential to understand how investment growth works and what factors impact your returns. Below is a look at how compounding, investment length, and consistent contributions can impact growth.
How compound earnings affect investment growth
Compounding can help money grow faster because rather than only earning on your principal balance, you also earn on your accumulated earnings over time, whether those come from interest, dividends, or investment gains.
For example, a $10,000 investment that compounds annually at 7% could nearly double in 10 years, even without adding more money.
How time can impact investments
The length of the investment also impacts returns, especially with compound earnings. The chart below is a visual representation of how this works.
Initial investment | Annual rate of return | Investment period | Final investment value |
$10,000 | 7% | 10 years | $19,672 |
$10,000 | 7% | 20 years | $38,697 |
$10,000 | 7% | 30 years | $76,126 |
How monthly or recurring contributions can grow your investments
The above example shows how much you can earn with compounding when making a lump-sum investment. You can significantly increase these returns by making recurring contributions on an annual, monthly, or weekly basis.
Following the example above and calculating $200 per month in recurring contributions could increase the final investment value to $54,075 after 10 years, $140,778 after 20 years, and $311,336 after 30 years.
Initial investment | Annual rate of return | Investment period | Recurring Contribution Amount | Recurring Contribution Frequency | Final investment value |
$10,000 | 7% | 10 years | $200 | per month | $54,075 |
$10,000 | 7% | 20 years | $200 | per month | $140,778 |
$10,000 | 7% | 30 years | $200 | per month | $311,336 |
Types of investments this calculator can model
The following are some of the common types of investments that the calculator can model.
- CDs: CDs, or certificates of deposit, come with minimal risks but provide a lower return on your investments. These fixed-interest investments are often offered by banks and credit unions.
- Bonds: These investments are loans from investors to the government or a company. Investors receive regular interest payments, and their initial investments are returned when the bond matures.
- Commodities: Commodities are investments in raw goods or agricultural products, such as oil, natural gas, gold, wheat, or livestock.
- Exchange-traded funds: These funds trade on the stock exchange, but they include various assets, such as stocks, bonds, and commodities.
- Mutual funds & index funds: Mutual and index funds enable investors to pool their interests by investing in many assets. Professional fund managers often manage these funds.
- Real estate: Real estate investments include the purchase of real property or real estate investment trusts, or REITs.
- Stocks: Stocks are purchased and traded on the stock market and grant investors partial ownership in the company.
Read more: Our investment methodology
Read-world investment calculator examples
These real-world examples show how the Empower investment calculator can model common investing situations. They assume end-of-month contributions and a fixed annual return for illustration only. They do not account for taxes, fees, or inflation.
$10,000 invested in S&P 500 calculator example
Say you receive a work bonus or inheritance and decide to invest $10,000 in an S&P 500 index fund in a taxable brokerage account. Using a hypothetical 7% annual return and no additional contributions, your balance could grow to about $38,697 after 20 years. That means a one-time $10,000 investment could generate roughly $28,697 in potential growth over time.
Index fund calculator example: investing $200 a month for 20 years
Imagine a first-time investor opens a Roth IRA and sets up automatic contributions of $200 per month into a broad-market index fund. With a hypothetical 6% annual return, those recurring contributions could grow to about $91,129 after 20 years. On total contributions of $48,000, that would mean about $43,129 in projected growth.
ETF calculator example: estimating ETF total return
Consider a household building a diversified brokerage account with ETFs and reinvesting distributions along the way. If they start with $20,000, contribute $400 per month, and assume a hypothetical 6% annual total return, the account could grow to about $163,255 in 15 years. With total contributions of $92,000, that would translate to roughly $71,255 in potential growth.
Investment Calculator FAQs
What is an investment return?
An investment return, also referred to as return on investment (ROI), is the amount of profit you earn over time compared to your initial investment. A basic formula is: ROI = net return ÷ cost of the initial investment × 100.
How often should I contribute to my investments?
Consider contributing to your investments as often as you can while being able to comfortably pay monthly expenses. Many investors choose a regular schedule, such as every paycheck or every month. Equal contributions at regular intervals could align with dollar-cost averaging, and automatic contributions may make it easier to stick with a long-term plan.
Learn more: Ready to get started?
Calculators are for informational purposes only and are not intended to provide investment, legal, tax or accounting advice, nor are they intended to indicate the performance, availability or applicability of any product or service.
The S&P 500 Index is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC. It is an unmanaged index considered indicative of the domestic large-cap equity market and is used as a proxy for the stock market in general.
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