How much will $1,000 a month be worth in 5 years?

Investing $1,000 a month for 5 years means paying in $60,000 in total. At a hypothetical 7% annual return it would grow to $71,196: $60,000 from your contributions and $11,196 from investment growth. At 4% the balance would be $66,179 ($6,179 of growth), and at 10% it would be $76,561 ($16,561 of growth).

At 4% a year

$66,179

$6,179 of that is growth

At 7% a year

$71,196

$11,196 of that is growth

At 10% a year

$76,561

$16,561 of that is growth

4%, 7% and 10% are example rates, not forecasts. Real returns change from year to year and are never guaranteed, and these figures leave out fees, taxes and inflation.

$1,000 a month for 5 years at different rates of return

Annual return	Final balance	Total contributed	Interest earned
1%	$61,492	$60,000	$1,492
2%	$63,019	$60,000	$3,019
3%	$64,581	$60,000	$4,581
4%	$66,179	$60,000	$6,179
5%	$67,814	$60,000	$7,814
6%	$69,486	$60,000	$9,486
7%	$71,196	$60,000	$11,196
8%	$72,945	$60,000	$12,945
9%	$74,733	$60,000	$14,733
10%	$76,561	$60,000	$16,561
11%	$78,430	$60,000	$18,430
12%	$80,341	$60,000	$20,341

Assumes no starting balance, a contribution at the end of every month, and a constant rate compounded once a year (an effective annual rate). You pay in $60,000 in every row; only the growth changes, from $1,492 at 1% to $20,341 at 12%.

Try your own numbers

The calculator starts with this example at 7%. Change the amount, rate or time period, add a starting balance, or switch the compounding, and the result updates as you type.

Balance after 5 years

$71,196

15.7% of that is interest. Your balance is 1.19 times what you put in.

Total contributions

$60,000

Interest earned

$11,196

Growth by year

Contributions
Interest

Year-by-year breakdown

Year	Contributions	Interest	Balance
1	$12,000	$380	$12,380
2	$24,000	$1,627	$25,627
3	$36,000	$3,801	$39,801
4	$48,000	$6,968	$54,968
5	$60,000	$11,196	$71,196

How much is your money and how much is growth?

At 7%, 5 years is not long enough for growth to overtake what you pay in: growth is 16% of the final balance and the other 84% is your own money. Keep contributing at the same pace and growth would pass contributions during year 19. A different rate moves that point, but not into these 5 years: it would come in year 14 at 10% and in year 33 at 4%.

In year 5 alone, the balance earns $4,228 at 7%. That is less than the $12,000 you add that year, and compares with $380 of growth in year 1.

What if you change the plan?

Each row changes one thing and keeps everything else the same, at the 7% example rate. The comparison is with $1,000 a month for 5 years, which ends at $71,196.

Change	Final balance	Difference
Keep contributing for 5 more years (10 years in total)	$171,052	+$99,856
Contribute $1,500 a month instead of $1,000	$106,794	+$35,598
Start with $10,000 already invested	$85,221	+$14,026
Contribute at the start of each month instead of the end	$71,598	+$403
Earn 6% a year instead of 7%	$69,486	−$1,710

Another 5 years adds $60,000 of your own money and raises the balance by $99,856. The extra $39,856 is growth, most of it earned on money that was already invested. A return that is one point lower leaves you with $1,710 less after 5 years, which is roughly what a 1% annual fee would cost.

Working backwards: to reach $100,000 in 5 years at 7%, starting from zero, you would need to invest about $1,405 a month.

When would the balance reach $100,000?

The table shows the year in which the balance first reaches each amount, assuming the same $1,000 a month continues for as long as it takes. Years in bold fall within this page's 5-year period.

Balance reaches	At 4%	At 7%	At 10%
$25,000	Year 3	Year 2	Year 2
$50,000	Year 4	Year 4	Year 4
$100,000	Year 8	Year 7	Year 7

How this is calculated

The rate is treated as an effective annual rate, so the balance grows by exactly 7% over a full year. The monthly rate that compounds to 7% a year is:

Monthly rate = (1 + 0.07)^1/12 − 1 = 0.5654%

With $1,000 added at the end of each month for 60 months (5 × 12), the contributions grow to:

Balance = 1,000 × [1.005654⁶⁰ − 1] ÷ 0.005654 ≈ $71,196

The rates shown here are rounded; the result uses full precision. Of that balance, 1,000 × 60 = $60,000 is your contributions and the remaining $11,196 is growth. Every other row in the rate table uses the same formula with a different annual rate. The compound interest calculator page explains the formulas in more detail.

Frequently asked questions

How much interest will $1,000 a month earn in 5 years?

It depends on the rate of return. At a constant 7% a year, $1,000 a month for 5 years earns $11,196 on top of $60,000 in contributions, for a balance of $71,196. At 4% the growth is $6,179, and at 10% it is $16,561. These rates are examples, not predictions.

How long does it take to reach $100,000 investing $1,000 a month?

With a constant 7% annual return and no starting balance, the balance passes $100,000 during year 7. For comparison, at 10% it takes until year 7, and at 4% it takes until year 8.

How much do I need to invest each month to have $100,000 in 5 years?

At a constant 7% annual return you would need about $1,405 a month for 5 years, starting from zero. At 4% you would need about $1,511 a month, and at 10% about $1,306 a month.

$1,000 a month over other periods

Other monthly amounts for 5 years

A single lump sum for 5 years

See all compound interest examples in one table, or start from scratch with the compound interest calculator.