Present Value Calculator
Free present value calculator: what a future amount or a series of payments is worth today at a discount rate, with any compounding and start or end payments.
No currency is shown on purpose: the figures come out in whatever unit you type in.
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Present value is compound interest in reverse: money you receive later is worth less today, because today’s money could be earning interest in the meantime. At 7% a year, 10,000 received in five years is worth 7,129.86 today.
Also: Future Value Calculator Β· Compound Interest Calculator Β· NPV Calculator
What it does
Future value is what money becomes after earning compound interest: each period the interest is added to the balance and earns interest itself. Present value runs the same sum backwards and tells you what a future amount is worth today. Both can include a regular payment, such as a monthly deposit or a pension paid every month.
How to use it
- Choose future value or present value and enter the amount, the regular payment, or both.
- Enter the yearly interest rate, the number of years, how often interest is compounded and how often you pay.
- Choose whether payments are made at the start or the end of each period, and read the result and the yearly table.
The arithmetic runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere and nothing is stored, so you can use these with real numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Does compounding frequency make a big difference?
Some: 10,000 at 6% for 10 years grows to 17,908.48 with yearly compounding and 18,193.97 with monthly compounding. The effective annual rate shown under the result is the yearly rate that gives the same growth.
When do payments at the start of the period matter?
Paying at the start (an annuity due) gives each payment one more period of interest, so the future value is higher. Rent and many savings plans are paid at the start; loan instalments are usually paid at the end.
Wikipedia — Future value
Wikipedia — Present value
Wikipedia — Annuity