- Years
- The number of years you wish to analyze. This can be any number from one to one hundred.
- Rate of return
- This is the annually compounded rate of return you expect from your investments before taxes. The actual rate of return is largely dependent on the type of investments you select. For example, the total return including dividends of the S&P/TSX Composite Index for the 10 year period from December 31, 2014 through December 31, 2024 was 8.7% (source www.spglobal.com). Savings accounts at a bank or credit union may pay as little as 2% or less. It is important to remember that future rates of return can't be predicted with certainty and that investments that pay higher rates of return are subject to higher risk and volatility. The actual rate of return on investments can vary widely over time, especially for long-term investments. This includes the potential loss of principal on your investment.
- Initial investment
- Total you currently have invested that should be included in this analysis.
- Additional investments
- The amount you will contribute to your investments each period. If you check the box to adjust this amount for inflation, your annual investment will increase each year by the inflation rate.
- Frequency of contributions
- How often you make contributions to your account. The options include weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually. This calculator assumes that you make your contributions at the beginning of each period.
- Inflation rate
- What you expect for the average long-term inflation rate.
- Tax rate
- The percentage of your investment return you will pay in taxes. Your taxes are assumed to be payable annually, at the end of the year.
- Inflation adjustment
- Check this box to increase your future investment amounts for inflation.
- Show values after inflation
- Check this box to show all totals after inflation. By choosing this option you will see the value of your investments in terms of purchasing power, if you had that amount available today.
- Compound Interest
- Interest on an investment's interest, plus previous interest. The more frequently this occurs, the sooner your accumulated interest will generate additional interest. You should check with your financial institution to find out how often interest is being compounded on your particular investment.
- Compounded interest return
- Total after-tax return if your investment profit is compounded annually.
- Simple interest return
- Total after-tax return if your investment profit is simple interest with no compounding.
- Total invested capital
- Total you have invested. This includes your initial investment and all periodic investments.
- Investment final total
- Your investment's total ending value. If you have checked the box to show values after inflation, this amount is the total value of your investment in today's dollars. If this box is unchecked, it will show the actual value of the investment.
