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Compound interest calculator (CHF)
See how a start amount and a monthly saving grow over the years, and how much of the end value is growth on top of your deposits.
Your result appears here
Fill in your numbers and calculate. We do not store your inputs and no email is required.
Educational model, not financial advice and not a forecast.
This is one number. Your real plan has AHV, pension fund, 3a and taxes in it.
Create your free account and see a complete Swiss lifetime plan on your own numbers.
How compound interest works
Interest on interest: the mechanism
Compound interest means your money earns a return, and that return then earns a return itself. In the first year, CHF 10'000 at an assumed 5% grows by CHF 500. In the second year the 5% applies to CHF 10'500, so the gain is CHF 525, and so on: each year's growth becomes part of the next year's base. Over 20 years the same CHF 10'000 grows to about CHF 26'533, more than two and a half times the start, without a single additional deposit.
- End value = start amount × (1 + return) to the power of the years.
- This calculator credits your monthly savings at the end of each year and compounds once per year; results are shown before taxes and fees.
Time is the biggest lever
The curve is flat at first and steep at the end. Saving CHF 500 per month at an assumed 5% grows to roughly CHF 198'000 after 20 years, but to roughly CHF 399'000 after 30 years: the last ten years add more than the first twenty, because by then the return works on a large base. Starting early therefore counts for more than starting big.
Compound interest is also the engine of financial independence. Your FIRE number is reached exactly when this compounding has carried your wealth to the point where a sustainable withdrawal covers your spending. The FIRE calculator linked below builds directly on the mechanic you see here.
What return is realistic in Switzerland?
The return field is pre-filled with a long-term diversified-portfolio assumption from our parameter set, and you can change it freely. For orientation: long-run studies such as the UBS Global Investment Returns Yearbook, which tracks Swiss markets back to 1900, put the very long-term nominal return of broadly diversified equities in the mid single digits per year, with bonds and savings accounts well below that. Those are historical averages over very long periods, not a promise for the years ahead, and any single decade can look very different. A projection with a constant rate also smooths out swings that in reality can be severe.
What this calculator leaves out
The projection is nominal and before costs. In real life, inflation reduces what the end amount can buy, income tax is due on dividends and interest (while private capital gains on movable assets are generally tax-free in Switzerland), most cantons levy an annual wealth tax, and product fees lower the effective return. One percentage point of return changes the picture substantially over decades, which is why the result is an illustration of the mechanic, not a forecast of your wealth.
Frequently asked questions
What is compound interest?
It is the return earned on previously earned returns. Growth is added to the base, so the next period's return applies to a larger amount. That is why wealth grows exponentially rather than in a straight line, and why the effect gets stronger the longer the money stays invested.
How does this calculator compute the end value?
The start amount compounds once per year at the rate you set, and your twelve monthly contributions are credited at the end of each year. The split shows what you paid in versus what the assumed return added. Everything is nominal, before taxes and product fees.
What return can I enter for a Swiss scenario?
Any rate between minus 5% and 15%. The pre-filled value is a long-term diversified-portfolio assumption. Historically, long-run studies such as the UBS Global Investment Returns Yearbook put broadly diversified Swiss equity returns in the mid single digits nominal per year; past averages are not a promise of future results.
Does the calculator include taxes, fees and inflation?
No. The projection is before income tax on dividends and interest, before cantonal wealth tax and before product fees, and it is not adjusted for inflation. All of these reduce what the end amount is really worth, so treat the result as an upper-bound illustration.
Is this calculator really free?
Yes. It runs without signup, without an email address and without storing your inputs. It is an educational model that answers one question; a complete lifetime plan across AHV, pension fund, Pillar 3a and taxes is what the full SORVA planner is for.
Related calculator
- FIRE calculator for Switzerland
Compound interest is the engine of financial independence: see the wealth at which your assets could cover your spending, and the year you could cross it.
Read next
Educational model, not financial advice and not a forecast. Projections are illustrations based on your inputs and a constant assumed return; actual results depend on market developments, taxes and costs and can differ substantially.