Amount of Initial Saving*:		$
Year of Initial Saving:
Year of Withdrawal of Saving:
Investment:
Accumulation of interest on short-term investment (1831-2010)
Accumulation of interest on long-term investment for a term of (no. of years) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 15 20 25 30 (1798-2010)
Appreciation plus dividends of stock-market investment (1871-2010)
New York market price of gold (1791-2010)
HomePR (1890-2010)
* Enter data as a number without a $ sign or commas.

This calculator computes how much an amount saved in an initial year grows, depending on the type of financial investment or asset chosen.

There are four alternative investments you can choose:

• a short-term asset (similar to a saving account at a bank)
• a long-term asset (similar to a mutual fund of corporate and government bonds)
• a bundle of corporate stocks with the dividends reinvested.
• holding gold.

If you chose the short-term asset, the calculator assumes that the principal investment is made in equal installments throughout the initial year at the average short-term rate for that year. The principal plus the interest accumulated is then reinvested at the average short-term rate for the second year. This continues until the final year, when the withdrawal is assumed to be made over equal installments throughout that year.

If you chose the long-term asset, the calculator assumes that the principal investment is made in equal installments throughout the initial year at the average long-term rate for that year. The principal plus the interest accumulated is reinvested at that same rate for the second year, and continues at that rate for the number of years of the term you have selected. At this point, the calculator will use the long-term rate of the next year and repeat the process. This continues until the final year, when the withdrawal is again assumed to be made over equal installments.

If you chose the stock asset, the calculator assumes that principal investment is a purchase of all the stocks in the composite average at their average price during January of the initial year. The dividends earned during the year are assumed to be reinvested at the price of the stocks in the composite in the January of the next year. It is assumed that you hold the portfolio until the year of withdrawal, and that you sell the stocks in the portfolio at their average price during January of that year. It is also assumed that, during the entire period of investment, there are no commissions or taxes paid.

If you chose gold, the calculator assumes that the principal investment is a purchase of gold at the average price of gold for the initial year. It is assumed the gold is held until the year of withdrawal, and then sold at the average price of gold in that year.

The short-term rate used is the interest return on treasury bills, carried back in time by the interest rate on commercial paper. The data are "U.S. Short-term: Ordinary funds, Consistent series" in The Interest Rates Used in MeasuringWorth.

The long-term rate used is the interest return on corporate bonds carried back in time by the interest return on New England municipal bonds, and U.S. government securities. The data are "U.S. Long-Term: Consistent Series" in The Interest Rates Used in MeasuringWorth.

The stock asset used is the Standard and Poors Composite Index. The data with an explanation of how they are computed are in The Annual Standard and Poor's Composite Stock Index, the Yield, and a "Portfolio" of the Index with Dividends Reinvested..

The gold price used is the New York market price of gold found on The Price of Gold, 1257- 2009.