Punch in your starting balance, an honest monthly return, the years you want to model, and any monthly contribution. The calculator runs the future-value math and shows the year-by-year balance — so you can see how much of the final number is your contributions and how much is actual edge.
Most compound calculators lie by accepting a 5 % monthly return as input. The math is correct; the assumption is fantasy. Use realistic numbers and the result tells you a useful story.
Three reads to take seriously before you trust the headline number.
Compounding looks linear early and exponential late. If your horizon is short, contributions matter more than returns. If it's long, returns swallow contributions completely. Both are true at different stages.
5 % per month sounds tame and produces fantasy outcomes. 1 % per month is closer to what disciplined retail traders actually achieve over years — and the math is still impressive without being absurd.
The model assumes you stay in the seat for the full horizon. Most traders blow up, give up, or revenge-trade their way out before year five. Compounding rewards survival more than it rewards genius.
MindTrajour helps you stay in the seat long enough for the math to actually work — sized correctly, journaled honestly, and reviewed before the next trade.
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Other calculators traders pair with this one.
Drop in your win rate, average win, and average loss. The calculator returns the full-Kelly stake — and the half- and quarter-Kelly versions that disciplined traders actually use, because full-Kelly drawdowns are real and brutal.
Open toolPunch in your account's high-water mark and where it sits today. We give you back the dollar drawdown, the percent drawdown, and — the part most traders ignore — the percentage gain you now have to make on the smaller balance just to get back to flat.
Open toolPunch in your four strikes, the net credit, and the number of contracts. We give you back the max profit, max loss, both break-evens, and a payoff diagram that shows exactly where the trade lives or dies.
Open toolEverything you need to know before sizing your next trade.
