Net Worth Projection Calculator
Project net worth forward from where you are today, at a contribution and a return you choose — and see how much of the result is money you put in rather than growth you assumed. For the starting figure itself, the net worth calculator totals assets against liabilities.
Where you are and what you add
Assets minus debts. Start with a minus sign if you owe more than you own — that is an ordinary starting point, not an error.
What you add to net worth each month — savings, investing, and principal paid down on debt.
A number you choose, held constant every year. Nothing here looks up a market.
From 1 through 75 years. The further out, the more the answer depends on the return you guessed.
Of that, $240,000.00 is money you added and $395,306.23 is growth at the return you entered.
- Starting net worth
- $75,000.00
- Total contributed
- $240,000.00
- Total growth
- $395,306.23
- Return: 6% a year, your input, applied monthly at one twelfth of the annual rate and never varied.
- Contributions: $1,000.00 added at the end of every month, flat for the whole term — no raises and no inflation adjustment.
- The return is applied to the whole balance, including a negative one. If your debts carry a different rate than your investments, this curve will not match them.
- Figures are nominal dollars. At 3% inflation, money 20 years out buys roughly half what it does today.
How the projection is calculated
The balance is stepped one month at a time: it grows by one twelfth of the annual rate, then the contribution is added. Twelve of those steps make a year, and each year is recorded so the chart and the table show the same numbers. Growth is reported as a residual — whatever the balance is beyond your starting point and your contributions — so it can never be quietly inflated.
Balance = Balance × (1 + r ÷ 12) + ContributionContributed = Contribution × 12 × YearsGrowth = Final balance − Start − Contributed- r
- Annual return you entered, as a decimal
- Start
- Net worth today; may be negative
- Growth
- The residual, not an independently computed figure
A projection is arithmetic, not a forecast. That sentence is on the result panel rather than buried here because it is the single most important thing about the output: the curve is a consequence of one assumption held rigid for decades, and the further right you read, the more of its height comes from that assumption rather than from anything you have actually done.
$75,000 today, $1,000 a month, 20 years
Starting from $75,000 with $1,000 added every month and a 6% annual return held constant, the projection reaches $710,306.23 after 20 years. Of that, $240,000 is contributions — money you actually moved — and $395,306.23 is growth the model produced from the rate you entered.
Set the return to 0% and the same inputs land at $315,000. The difference between $315,000 and $710,306.23 is not a plan; it is the weight the projection places on a single assumption. That is the number worth stress-testing before you rely on the higher one.
What this calculator assumes
- One constant return, applied monthly at one twelfth of the annual rate, for every month of the term. No volatility and no sequence-of-returns effects.
- The contribution is fixed for the whole term — no raises, no inflation adjustment, no career breaks.
- The return is applied to the entire balance including a negative one, so a negative net worth compounds negatively at the same rate. Real debts carry their own rates, which this does not model.
- Results are nominal. Enter a real return — the nominal rate minus inflation — if you want the answer in today's purchasing power.
- Taxes, fees, and transaction costs are not deducted at any point.
- Money values are rounded to the nearest cent for display.
Net worth projection FAQ
Is this a forecast of my net worth?
No, and the distinction is not pedantic. A forecast weighs evidence about what is likely to happen. This page compounds one number you typed, every year, with no volatility, no job changes, no market crash, and no windfall. It answers 'what does this rate produce if nothing else moves', which is a useful question precisely because it is narrow. Read the curve as the shape of compounding, not as a prediction about your life.
What return should I enter?
Whatever you can defend, and then try it again a few points lower. Long-run US stock returns are often quoted around 10% nominal before inflation, which is roughly 7% real — but that is one asset class over one country's history, and your net worth is not a stock portfolio: it includes cash earning nothing, a car losing value, and a mortgage. The most useful habit is to run the projection twice, once at the rate you hope for and once three points below it, and see whether the plan still works at the lower one.
Can I start from a negative net worth?
Yes. Net worth is assets minus liabilities, and a new graduate with student loans or a homeowner early in a mortgage can easily be below zero. Enter it with a minus sign. Be aware of what the model does with it: the return is applied to the whole balance, so a negative balance compounds negatively at the same rate. If your debts carry a different rate than your investments — and they usually do — the early part of the curve will not match reality, and a dedicated payoff schedule is the better tool until you cross zero.
Are these numbers in today's dollars?
Nominal dollars, unless you deliberately enter a real return. A projection running at 6% for 20 years produces a number in year-20 dollars, which buys less than the same number today. At 3% inflation, money 20 years out buys roughly half what it does now. If you would rather read the answer in today's purchasing power, subtract your inflation assumption from the return before entering it — 6% becomes 3% — and the result is expressed in today's money.
Why does the chart show two lines?
The solid line is projected net worth. The dashed line is your starting balance plus contributions alone, with no return applied at all. The gap between them is the entire contribution of compounding, and it is worth watching because it is the part of the projection that depends on an assumption rather than on a decision. Early on the two lines are nearly on top of each other — the money is almost all yours. The further right you read, the more of the height is the assumption.
Does it account for raises or changing contributions?
Contributions are flat for the whole term. That is conservative if your income rises and you save more over time, and optimistic if you are projecting through a career break, a house purchase, or a period of childcare. Neither is modeled. If your contribution is going to change materially, run the projection in segments — one term at the current amount, then a fresh one starting from that balance.
If the contribution is the input you are least sure of, the savings rate calculator works backwards from income, and the 50/30/20 budget calculator turns a target share of pay into a monthly figure.
Sources and review notes
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Investor.gov — compound interest
- Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — calculating your net worth
Methodology last checked Jul 28, 2026. Formula implementation is covered by deterministic unit tests, including negative starting balances and zero-return terms. No return figure is supplied, recommended, or sourced by this page — the rate is entirely your input. No financial professional review is claimed yet.