Investment tool
See how an investment could grow over time and understand the downside risk before you invest.
Adjust your starting amount, time horizon, expected return, fees, inflation, and risk profile to explore possible outcomes.
Scenario range
Visualize below the hypothetical growth of your investment, based on your assumptions.
Investments can fall in value. Higher expected returns usually involve higher volatility and a greater chance of temporary or permanent losses. Make sure your time horizon, emergency savings, and risk tolerance match the investment. Estimated results are educated estimates based on your assumptions, but they do not guarantee future returns.
The Theory behind
The simple projection compounds your starting investment monthly and adds any monthly contribution along the way. The risk simulation repeats that process with random monthly return changes based on your expected return and volatility assumptions.
Expected return is an assumption, not a promise. Real markets can perform better or worse than an estimate, and losses can happen even over longer periods. Higher results usually come with higher risk and more fluctuations.
Fees reduce net returns every year. Small fee differences can become meaningful over time because the money paid in fees no longer compounds in your portfolio. This is why it is important to choose cost-effective brokers.
Inflation reduces purchasing power. The inflation-adjusted result estimates what the future amount could be worth in today's money. Inflation erodes your capital over time, this is why it is important to invest.
Diversified funds reduce company-specific risk and are in general less volatile. ETFs are wrappers: an ETF can hold stocks, bonds, or other assets, so the underlying holdings matter.
Investment horizon is the length of time you plan to stay invested. Longer horizons may give investments more time to recover from volatility, while shorter horizons usually call for more caution.
Investment profiles
The default return, volatility, and fee values are illustrative educated assumptions. They are not predictions, recommendations, or financial advice.
Generally contains: Bank savings, cash deposits, or similar low-volatility holdings.
Potential advantages: Usually simple, liquid, and useful for near-term goals or emergency funds.
Main risks: Returns may not keep up with inflation, and deposit protection limits can apply.
| Return | 2.0% |
|---|---|
| Volatility | 1.0% |
| Fees | 0.00% |
Generally contains: A fund holding government, corporate, or mixed bonds.
Potential advantages: Can provide income and may be less volatile than stock-heavy portfolios.
Main risks: Bond prices can fall when rates rise, and credit risk depends on the issuers held.
| Return | 4.0% |
|---|---|
| Volatility | 5.0% |
| Fees | 0.05% |
Generally contains: A diversified stock index fund or ETF tracking a broad equity market, such as for example an S&P 500 fund.
Potential advantages: Offers broad exposure, low maintenance, and long-term growth potential.
Main risks: Can experience large drawdowns, and future market returns may differ from history.
| Return | 9.5% |
|---|---|
| Volatility | 16.0% |
| Fees | 0.07% |
Generally contains: A diversified mix such as 50% bonds and 50% stocks.
Potential advantages: Combines growth potential with some defensive assets in one assumption set.
Main risks: Both parts can lose value, and diversification does not remove market risk.
| Return | 6.5% |
|---|---|
| Volatility | 10.0% |
| Fees | 0.06% |
Generally contains: Shares of one individual company or a similarly concentrated holding, for example a tech stock.
Potential advantages: Can benefit strongly if that company performs well.
Main risks: Company-specific problems can cause severe losses, including permanent loss of capital.
| Return | 12.0% |
|---|---|
| Volatility | 35.0% |
| Fees | 0.00% |
Generally contains: Your own return, volatility, and fee inputs instead of a preset profile.
Potential advantages: Useful for testing a specific fund, portfolio, or sensitivity scenario.
Main risks: Results depend entirely on your assumptions, which may be too optimistic or too conservative.
Set your own values
Risk simulation metrics
These estimates use your expected return, volatility, fees, tax rate, and time horizon. They are educational scenario estimates, not guarantees or financial advice.
Volatility shows how much results may fluctuate around the expected return. Higher volatility can create a wider range of outcomes, larger temporary declines, and less predictable short-term results.
The median result is the middle simulated outcome, while the low and high estimates show a possible range based on the assumptions. These are hypothetical estimates, not guarantees.
This is the middle estimated outcome over the selected time horizon after annual fees. It adjusts for volatility because highly volatile returns can compound worse than their simple average. This is why the median final value is usually lower than the simply projected future value.
This uses a 10th percentile estimate. In plain language, it represents a bad but realistic outcome based on the selected assumptions.
This uses a 90th percentile estimate. It represents a good but realistic outcome, not a best-case promise.
This estimates a bad but realistic temporary peak-to-trough loss during the investment path. It is simulated across many paths and displayed as a negative percentage loss.