Why show three returns instead of one?

A single figure implies precision that does not exist. Over 20 years, 10% versus 14% can mean twice the corpus. Three projections let you check that your goal is funded in the cautious case, with the rest as upside.

What return should I actually assume?

Match it to what you hold: roughly 11 to 13% for broad Indian equity over long periods, 9 to 10% for hybrid, 6 to 7% for debt. Blend them if you hold a mix, subtract fund costs, and lean conservative.

Why does the projection also show a smaller today's-money figure?

The headline figure is inflated. ₹5 crore in 25 years at 6% inflation buys what ₹1.16 crore buys today. Setting goals in today's money and reading the real column against them avoids plans that quietly fall short.

When does growth start doing more work than my contributions?

Usually between years eight and twelve at equity-like returns, then the gap widens quickly. Early progress is mostly your own contributions, which feels slow — but the final third of a long plan produces most of the wealth.

How much difference does raising my contribution each year make?

A great deal. A 10% annual step-up roughly doubles what you invest over 20 years and can raise the final corpus by 60 to 80%. It is easy to sustain because it comes from future pay rises rather than your current budget.

How much should I trust a 25-year projection?

Trust the shape and the ranking of your options, not the exact figure. Projections assume smooth returns while reality is jagged, and the range of real outcomes widens the further out you go. Revisit it every year or two with actual balances.

Is a lump sum better than investing monthly?

Mathematically yes, because a lump sum is invested for the full period while monthly contributions average about half the exposure. But most people have income rather than a lump sum, and monthly investing avoids the risk of never starting.

What are the milestone years for?

They turn the curve into dates you can track, and they show that the gaps between milestones keep shrinking as the balance compounds. Reaching one early is a good prompt to review your allocation.

PlanningUpdated August 1, 2026

Future Wealth Calculator

Project what your savings become over any horizon, across cautious, expected and optimistic returns at once. See the split between what you contributed and what growth added, the value in today's money, and the year each wealth milestone is crossed.

How to use this calculator

Step 1
Start with what you have
Your current invested balance, plus the amount you add every month.
Step 2
Set the horizon
How many years you are projecting. Long horizons are where the interesting behaviour lives.
Step 3
Bracket your return
Give an expected return and a range around it. Three scenarios are projected side by side rather than one false-precision number.
Step 4
Read both numbers
The nominal total, and what it buys in today's money. The second is the one that matters.

Quick facts

Scenarios: Cautious, expected, optimistic
Compounding: Monthly
Extras supported: Annual step-up and yearly top-ups
Also shown: Value in today's money

Your wealth plan

Combine what you already hold with what you add each month and each year, then see the range of outcomes.

What you are putting in

Currency

Invested so far

Added each month

Adjust monthly amount

$0$200,000

Added once a year

Annual increase

Your monthly amount grows from $25,000 to $107,893 in the final year.

How long, and at what return

Time horizon

yrs

Adjust horizon

1 yr40 yr

Expected annual return

Scenario spread

Scenarios run at 9%, 12% and 15%.

Inflation

Your age (optional)

yrs

Three scenarios are shown because a single projection 20 years out implies precision that does not exist.

Projected wealth in 20 years

$63,059,822

Worth $19,662,351 in today's money once 6% inflation is taken out.

3.4×what you put in

Total you contribute: $18,804,786
Growth on top: $44,255,036
Lost to inflation: −$43,397,471
In today's money: $19,662,351

Growth is 70% of the final figure. Your real return after inflation is 5.66%.

The range you should plan against

Conservative

$44,447,240

At 9% a year.

In today's money: $13,858,859
Multiple of what you put in: 2.4×

Expected

$63,059,822

At 12% a year.

In today's money: $19,662,351
Multiple of what you put in: 3.4×

Optimistic

$92,182,970

At 15% a year.

In today's money: $28,743,086
Multiple of what you put in: 4.9×

Three percentage points of return is worth $47,735,730 here

The gap between the cautious and optimistic cases is 107% of the cautious outcome, from a difference in return you cannot control. What you can control is how much goes in and how long it stays there, which is why plans built on the cautious column rarely disappoint.

Every figure is before tax and investment costs. The nominal column is what a statement would show; the today's-money column is what it would actually buy.

The range of outcomes, not a single number

The shaded band spans the cautious and optimistic returns. The dashed line is the middle case in today's money.

The band widens with time, which is the honest shape of a long projection: the further out you look, the less you know.

What builds the final figure

Over long horizons, growth contributes more than the money you add.

Already invested0.8%
Added from here on29.0%
Investment growth70.2%

Stretch the horizon and watch the growth slice take over. Time in the market does more than the size of each contribution.

Watch the milestones arrive

Scrub the years to see the portfolio grow, and press play to watch compounding accelerate.

Building wealthAge 32 to 52

Age 32Age 52Age 52

Portfolio after 20 yrs

$63,059,822

Worth $19,662,351 in today's money.

Cautious case: $44,447,240
Optimistic case: $92,182,970
What you have put in: $18,804,786
Growth so far: $44,255,036

Jump to a milestone

Notice how the gaps between milestones shrink even though the amounts double. That is compounding at work.

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How the projection is built

Future wealth is two separate calculations added together: what your existing balance grows into, and what your stream of future contributions grows into.

FV = P × (1 + r)ⁿ + Σ Cₖ × (1 + r)ⁿ⁻ᵏ⁺¹

Future value

The projected balance at the end of the horizon.

Current balance

What you already have invested today.

Cₖ

Contribution in month k

Your monthly amount, raised on each anniversary if you set a step-up, plus any annual top-up.

Monthly return

Annual return ÷ 12 ÷ 100.

Months in the horizon

Years × 12.

Real FV

Value in today's money

FV ÷ (1 + inflation) raised to the number of years.

The exponent is what makes long horizons behave unintuitively. Because each contribution compounds for however many months remain, your earliest contributions do the heaviest lifting, and the growth portion overtakes the contributed portion somewhere around the point where the horizon length matches the doubling period. Doubling the horizon does not double the result — at 12% a year, 10 years turns ₹1 into roughly ₹3.3 while 20 years turns it into ₹11.

Assumptions

Returns are applied at a steady monthly rate. Real markets deliver the same average through a very different path.
Contributions are invested at the start of each month, so each one earns a full month of return.
Annual step-ups and top-ups are applied on each anniversary, not spread through the year.
The today's-money figure discounts the projection by your inflation assumption over the full horizon.
No tax is deducted on gains, and no fund expenses, exit loads or transaction costs are applied.
The three scenarios are simply three different steady rates. They are a sensitivity range, not a probability distribution — the real spread of outcomes is wider at both ends.
Milestones are reported at the month the balance first crosses each level, in nominal terms.

Frequently asked questions

Answers about the future wealth calculator.

Because a single number implies a precision that does not exist. Over 20 years, the difference between a 10% and a 14% return is not a rounding difference — it can be twice the final corpus. Showing three projections makes the honest point that the spread is enormous and your plan should survive the low one rather than depend on the high one. The practical use is a stress test: if your goal is only funded in the optimistic scenario, the plan is fragile and needs a bigger contribution or a longer horizon. If it is funded in the cautious scenario, everything above that is upside.

Related calculators

Continue exploring adjacent tools in this topic.

Guides that explain this

Background reading on the ideas behind these numbers.

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Why compounding rewards patience more than timing

The arithmetic of long-horizon investing is lopsided: the final decade of a thirty-year plan produces more wealth than the first twenty years combined. Here is why duration beats cleverness, and what that means for when you start.

Jul 24, 20268 min read

This tool is provided for educational purposes only. Results are estimates based on the values you enter and do not constitute financial advice.

Assumptions

Returns are applied at a steady monthly rate. Real markets deliver the same average through a very different path.

Contributions are invested at the start of each month, so each one earns a full month of return.

Annual step-ups and top-ups are applied on each anniversary, not spread through the year.

The today's-money figure discounts the projection by your inflation assumption over the full horizon.

No tax is deducted on gains, and no fund expenses, exit loads or transaction costs are applied.

The three scenarios are simply three different steady rates. They are a sensitivity range, not a probability distribution — the real spread of outcomes is wider at both ends.

Milestones are reported at the month the balance first crosses each level, in nominal terms.