Put in a starting amount, what you add each month, and a rate. See the balance year by year, how much of it is interest, and whether compounding daily instead of yearly is worth caring about.
The same inputs, compounded four different ways. Going from once a year to daily does add something, but the rate itself and the number of years matter far more. When comparing accounts, compare the APY, which already counts the compounding.
Divide 72 by the rate and you get roughly how many years a lump sum takes to double. It is a mental shortcut, and it works because the exact answer happens to land close to it across ordinary rates. Here is the shortcut next to the exact figure for your rate.
The rate is a nominal annual rate, so each compounding period earns the rate divided by the number of periods in a year. Deposits are monthly, which does not line up with quarterly or yearly compounding, so growth is run month by month at the monthly rate equivalent to the compounding you picked. That is exact for the starting amount. For deposits made between compounding dates it credits a few days of interest that a bank paying only on full periods would not, so treat the quarterly and yearly figures as slightly generous. Nothing here counts taxes or fees, and a rate held constant for decades is an illustration, not a forecast. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere. The link button copies your numbers into the page address and nowhere else.
Interest is added to the balance and then earns interest itself, so growth speeds up over time. That is why the green interest portion of each bar in the chart grows faster in later years than the deposits beneath it. How interest works explains simple versus compound interest.
Less than you might think. Going from yearly to daily compounding adds a little, but the rate and the number of years matter far more. The frequency table shows all four side by side for your inputs, and APY is the way to compare accounts because it already includes compounding.
Divide 72 by the annual rate to estimate how many years a lump sum takes to double: about 10 years at 7.2%. The calculator shows the shortcut next to the exact answer for your rate.