What would €X invested N years ago be worth today?
Find out how much an amount of money would have grown if you had invested it years ago at a given annual return, instead of leaving it idle.
Results
Final capital
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Total contributed
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Interest generated
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The final capital is calculated compounding monthly: initial capital — (1 + r)^n, plus the future value of monthly contributions [(1+r)^n - 1] / r, where r is the monthly interest rate and n the number of months.
Capital evolution
Contributions vs. Interest
Year-by-year evolution
| year | Final capital | Total contributed | Interest generated |
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What would €X invested N years ago be worth today?
This page answers a very specific question: if N years ago you had invested an amount at an average annual return, how much would you have today? The fields are pre-filled with an example (€1,000 invested 20 years ago at 7% annually, an approximate long-term historical average for global stock markets); change any value to match your own case.
With €1,000 invested 20 years ago at 7% annually, the result today would be €4,038.74: the original amount has more than quadrupled purely through compound interest, without adding a single extra euro. The more years pass, the greater the weight of interest earned on previous interest compared to the initial capital.
The result depends heavily on the average annual return you use: small differences of 1-2 percentage points change the 20-30 year result a lot. Use a realistic, conservative return for the type of asset you had in mind (not the best historical run), and remember that past returns don't guarantee future results.
If instead of looking back you'd rather look forward, the same logic applies in reverse: starting to invest steadily today, even with a modest amount, can produce a similar result 20 years from now to the one you just calculated here in reverse. This site's compound interest calculator lets you simulate exactly that scenario, including periodic contributions.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the 7% annual return in the example come from?
It's a common approximation of the long-term annualized historical average return of diversified global stock indices, before fees and taxes. It is not a guarantee of future returns and doesn't apply equally to every asset.
Does this calculator account for inflation?
No, it calculates the nominal growth of the invested money. To see that same result in today's purchasing power, you can use this site's inflation simulator with the result obtained here as the starting amount.
What if I had also contributed something every month?
Add that amount in the monthly contribution field: the calculation automatically adds the growth of the initial capital and of each periodic contribution using the same compound interest formula.
Instead of regretting not investing sooner, how do I apply this going forward?
With this site's compound interest calculator, which lets you simulate an initial contribution plus periodic contributions over the coming years at an expected return - the same logic you used here in reverse, but looking ahead.