Starting from $0 and contributing $500 a month at 7% nominal return, you reach ~$609,000 at year 30. After inflation at 2.5%, that's worth $290,000 in today's dollars. Both numbers matter.
Per-period compounding, contribution frequency from weekly to annual, year-by-year schedule. Suitable for savings, super, ETF DCA.
| High-interest savings / term deposit | 4-5% |
| Long-run balanced super fund (10yr avg) | 7-8% |
| ASX 200 with dividends reinvested | 9-10% |
| RBA inflation target band midpoint | 2.5% |
Real closing balance column shows the inflation-adjusted value in today's dollars.
| Year | Age | Opening | Contributions | Interest | Closing (nominal) | Closing (real) |
|---|
The standard future-value-of-an-annuity formula:
FV = P × (1 + r/n)^(n×t) + PMT × [((1 + r/n)^(n×t) − 1) / (r/n)]
Where:
P = starting balance
PMT = contribution per period
r = annual interest rate (e.g. 0.07 for 7%)
n = compounding periods per year (52, 26, 12, 4, or 1)
t = yearsStarting balance $20,000, $0 monthly contribution, 5.0% interest, 10 years, 2.5% inflation. Nominal: $32,577. Real: $25,440. A holding pattern — the offset preserves real value but does not grow wealth.
Starting $0, $500 monthly, 8.0% nominal (long-run ASX/global blend), 30 years, 2.5% inflation. Nominal: $745,000. Real: $355,000. The classic dollar-cost-average ETF playbook for Australian retail investors.
Starting $80,000 super, $200 fortnightly contribution, 7.0% balanced return, 25 years, 2.5% inflation. Nominal: $773,000. Real: $416,000. Modest fortnightly sacrifice creates a meaningful retirement uplift.
Long-run Australian balanced super funds have averaged around 7–8% nominal annual return over 10+ year windows (APRA MySuper performance data). High-interest savings accounts in mid-2026 sit at 4.5–5.5%. Index ETFs tracking the ASX 200 have averaged 9–10% with dividends reinvested over 20+ years. The default 7% in this calculator is the long-run balanced-fund benchmark — adjust based on your specific product mix.
Nominal balance is the dollar number you will actually see on your statement at the end of the projection. Real balance is what that dollar number is worth in today's purchasing power, after inflation. A $1 million nominal balance in 30 years at 2.5% inflation is only worth around $477,000 in today's dollars. Real value is what matters for retirement planning — it answers the question "can I actually live on this?"
No — this is a pre-tax compound projection. For super, the 15% contributions tax and 15% earnings tax are different from this projection (use the Velofy super calculator). For savings accounts, interest is taxed at your marginal rate (use the Velofy tax calculator to model after-tax return). For ETFs and shares, capital gains tax with the 50% discount applies on sale (use the Velofy CGT calculator). This calculator gives the gross compounding view across all asset classes.
Most Australian high-interest savings accounts compound monthly. Super funds notionally compound daily but report monthly. ETFs compound on dividend distribution cycles (usually quarterly). The difference between monthly and annual compounding is small at typical Australian rates — on a $10,000 balance at 7% over 30 years, monthly compounding yields about $79,200 vs $76,100 annual compounding. This calculator compounds at the contribution frequency for simplicity and accuracy across product types.
The future-value-with-contributions formula: FV = P(1+r/n)^(nt) + PMT × [((1+r/n)^(nt) − 1) / (r/n)], where P is the starting balance, PMT is the per-period contribution, r is the annual interest rate, n is the number of compounding periods per year, and t is the number of years. This calculator compounds at the contribution frequency and shows both nominal and inflation-adjusted real values.