How much will $250 a month be worth in 5 years?

Investing $250 a month for 5 years means paying in $15,000 in total. At a hypothetical 7% annual return it would grow to $17,799: $15,000 from your contributions and $2,799 from investment growth. At 4% the balance would be $16,545 ($1,545 of growth), and at 10% it would be $19,140 ($4,140 of growth).

At 4% a year

$16,545

$1,545 of that is growth

At 7% a year

$17,799

$2,799 of that is growth

At 10% a year

$19,140

$4,140 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.

$250 a month for 5 years at different rates of return

Annual return	Final balance	Total contributed	Interest earned
1%	$15,373	$15,000	$373
2%	$15,755	$15,000	$755
3%	$16,145	$15,000	$1,145
4%	$16,545	$15,000	$1,545
5%	$16,953	$15,000	$1,953
6%	$17,371	$15,000	$2,371
7%	$17,799	$15,000	$2,799
8%	$18,236	$15,000	$3,236
9%	$18,683	$15,000	$3,683
10%	$19,140	$15,000	$4,140
11%	$19,608	$15,000	$4,608
12%	$20,085	$15,000	$5,085

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 $15,000 in every row; only the growth changes, from $373 at 1% to $5,085 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

$17,799

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

Total contributions

$15,000

Interest earned

$2,799

Growth by year

Contributions
Interest

Year-by-year breakdown

Year	Contributions	Interest	Balance
1	$3,000	$95	$3,095
2	$6,000	$407	$6,407
3	$9,000	$950	$9,950
4	$12,000	$1,742	$13,742
5	$15,000	$2,799	$17,799

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 $1,057 at 7%. That is less than the $3,000 you add that year, and compares with $95 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 $250 a month for 5 years, which ends at $17,799.

Change	Final balance	Difference
Keep contributing for 5 more years (10 years in total)	$42,763	+$24,964
Contribute $300 a month instead of $250	$21,359	+$3,560
Start with $10,000 already invested	$31,824	+$14,026
Contribute at the start of each month instead of the end	$17,900	+$101
Earn 6% a year instead of 7%	$17,371	−$428

Another 5 years adds $15,000 of your own money and raises the balance by $24,964. The extra $9,964 is growth, most of it earned on money that was already invested. A return that is one point lower leaves you with $428 less after 5 years, which is roughly what a 1% annual fee would cost.

Working backwards: to reach $25,000 in 5 years at 7%, starting from zero, you would need to invest about $351 a month.

When would the balance reach $25,000?

The table shows the year in which the balance first reaches each amount, assuming the same $250 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%
$5,000	Year 2	Year 2	Year 2
$10,000	Year 4	Year 4	Year 3
$25,000	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 $250 added at the end of each month for 60 months (5 × 12), the contributions grow to:

Balance = 250 × [1.005654⁶⁰ − 1] ÷ 0.005654 ≈ $17,799

The rates shown here are rounded; the result uses full precision. Of that balance, 250 × 60 = $15,000 is your contributions and the remaining $2,799 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 $250 a month earn in 5 years?

It depends on the rate of return. At a constant 7% a year, $250 a month for 5 years earns $2,799 on top of $15,000 in contributions, for a balance of $17,799. At 4% the growth is $1,545, and at 10% it is $4,140. These rates are examples, not predictions.

How long does it take to reach $25,000 investing $250 a month?

With a constant 7% annual return and no starting balance, the balance passes $25,000 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 $25,000 in 5 years?

At a constant 7% annual return you would need about $351 a month for 5 years, starting from zero. At 4% you would need about $378 a month, and at 10% about $327 a month.

$250 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.