Investment ReturnsMeeting your long-term investment goal is dependent on a number of factors. This not only includes your investment capital and rate of return, but inflation, taxes and your time horizon. This calculator helps you sort through these factors and determine your bottom line. Click the "View Report" button for a detailed look at the results.
Definitions
- 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, for the last thirty years the average annual rate of return for the TSX is about 11%. 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.
- 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.
- Initial investment
- Total you currently have invested that should be included in this analysis.
- Inflation rate
- What you expect for the average long-term inflation rate. A common measure of inflation in the U.S. is the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which has a long-term average of 3.1% annually, from 1925 through 2007. The CPI for 2007 was 2.4%, as reported by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve.
- Annual investments
- The amount you will contribute each year to your investments. If you check the box to adjust this amount for inflation, your annual investment will increase each year by the 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.
- 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 investments 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.
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