The following table shows you how much you'll have at the end of a period of years if you save or invest $100 a month, assuming various annual returns.

Year

5.50%

7%

8%

9%

10%

12%

1

1,236

1,284

1,296

1,308

1,320

1,344

2

2,542

2,658

2,696

2,734

2,772

2,849

3

3,922

4,128

4,207

4,288

4,369

4,535

4

5,380

5,701

5,840

5,982

6,126

6,423

5

6,920

7,384

7,603

7,828

8,059

8,538

6

8,546

9,185

9,507

9,841

10,185

10,907

7

10,265

11,112

11,564

12,034

12,523

13,560

8

12,080

13,174

13,785

14,425

15,095

16,531

9

13,998

15,380

16,184

17,032

17,925

19,858

10

16,024

17,740

18,775

19,872

21,037

23,585

11

18,164

20,266

21,573

22,969

24,461

27,760

12

20,425

22,969

24,594

26,344

28,227

32,435

13

22,814

25,861

27,858

30,023

32,370

37,671

14

25,337

28,955

31,383

34,033

36,927

43,536

15

28,002

32,266

35,189

38,404

41,940

50,104

16

30,818

35,808

39,300

43,168

47,454

57,460

17

33,793

39,599

43,740

48,362

53,519

65,700

18

36,936

43,655

48,536

54,022

60,191

74,928

19

40,255

47,995

53,714

60,192

67,530

85,263

20

43,762

52,638

59,308

66,917

75,603

96,838

21

47,967

57,607

65,348

74,248

84,483

109,803

22

51,381

62,923

71,872

82,238

94,252

124,323

23

55,516

68,612

78,918

90,948

104,997

140,586

24

59,884

74,699

86,527

100,441

116,816

158,801

25

64,498

81,212

94,745

110,789

129,818

179,201

26

69,373

88,181

103,621

122,068

144,120

202,049

27

74,522

95,637

113,207

134,362

159,852

227,639

28

79,962

103,616

123,559

147,762

177,157

256,299

29

85,709

112,153

134,740

162,369

196,193

288,399

30

91,780

121,288

146,815

178,290

217,132

324,351

 

You can see that the latter columns (10%, 12%) grow to more than $200,000, while the earlier columns (5.5% and 7%) barely reach $100,000. This is similar to comparing savings accounts to fund or stock investments.
Last Updated on 11/5/98
By En The Black
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