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Contribution growth calculator

What if I increase what I invest each year?

Raise the annual contribution escalation to see how a small yearly increase — the kind a pay rise absorbs without pain — changes a twenty-year result.

Written by
Suggested Investments Research Team
Content type
Calculator
Published
2026-09-13
Last reviewed
2026-09-13

Your assumptions

Frequency

A commonly used illustration rate. These are inputs to a hypothetical calculation, not expected or guaranteed returns.

Projected portfolio

$691,150

After 30 years, monthly contributions.

Money you contributed

$190,000

Estimated investment growth

$501,150

From contributions

27.5%

From growth

72.5%

Investment multiple

3.64×

The compounding crossover

Year 17

The point where hypothetical growth becomes larger than the money you personally added.

Compound growth

Portfolio value against the money you contributed. The vertical marker is the compounding crossover.

Hypothetical illustration based on the assumptions entered above. It is not a projection of actual results, and it does not include taxes or trading costs. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Contributions and growth, separated

Wealth comes from both saving and returns. The lower band is your own money.

What can waiting cost?

The same plan, the same assumptions, measured at year 30. Only the start date changes.

Start today

$691,150

Reference

Start in 1 year

$638,777

$-52,374 vs starting today

Start in 5 years

$462,290

$-228,860 vs starting today

Start in 10 years

$300,851

$-390,300 vs starting today

Time itself is a major component of compounding. These are hypothetical mathematical projections, not predictions, and they assume contributions only begin at the chosen start date.

How to read the result

  • Set your current contribution, then add a 3% annual escalation and compare the end balance. The gap is usually larger than raising the assumed return.
  • Contribution frequency matters far less than contribution amount. Weekly versus monthly barely moves the outcome.
  • Escalation is the lever most people never touch, and it is fully within their control.

What this calculator cannot tell you

  • Escalation assumes you keep the increase in place for the whole period.
  • Income, expenses and emergencies are not modelled; an emergency fund comes before escalation.
  • No result here implies any particular investment will perform as assumed.

Terms used here

Sources and methodology

Standard future-value arithmetic. Every figure is hypothetical and depends entirely on the assumptions you enter.

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