Future Value: Projecting What Your Money Will Become
Future Value (FV) tells you what a sum of money today — or a series of regular payments — will grow to at a given interest rate over a given number of periods. It is the forward-looking counterpart to Present Value and is fundamental to retirement planning, savings targets, and investment analysis.
Future Value of a Lump Sum
FV = PV × (1 + r)ⁿ
PV = present value (amount today)
r = rate per period
n = number of periodsExample: £10,000 at 7% for 15 years → FV = 10,000 × 1.07¹⁵ = £27,590
Future Value of an Annuity (Regular Payments)
FV = PMT × [(1+r)ⁿ − 1] ÷ r
Example: £500/month at 6% for 20 years (monthly rate = 0.5%):
FV = 500 × [(1.005)²⁴⁰ − 1] ÷ 0.005 = £231,020
Total contributed: £120,000 | Growth: £111,020Combined: Lump Sum + Ongoing Contributions
FV total = FV(lump sum) + FV(annuity)Starting a pension at 30 with £5,000 lump sum + £300/month at 7%:
Lump sum FV (35 years): £53,000
Annuity FV: £493,000
Total at 65: ~£546,000
Inflation Adjustment
Use the real interest rate for inflation-adjusted projections: Real rate ≈ Nominal rate − Inflation rate. At 7% nominal and 3% inflation, the real rate is ~3.88% (more precisely: 1.07/1.03 − 1).
Calculate your future value: Free Future Value Calculator