An investing illustration
See what steady investing could build.
Move the inputs. Compare money added, a hypothetical balance, and what that balance could buy. A smooth chart is a useful explanation, not how markets behave.
No connected accounts.
Educational illustration. These assumptions are not AAA returns or forecasts. AAA is not accepting investment through this site.
Month 24020.0 years from the start
- Contributed
- $70,000
- Nominal value
- $127,984
- Purchasing power
- $78,105
The smooth path applies the same effective monthly rate throughout. It omits market volatility. Try the bumpy path to see why the order of returns matters when money is added along the way.
Contributed dollars are nominal cash paid in. Purchasing power discounts the ending balance to the starting date; subtracting nominal contributions from that figure would mix price bases.
See the annual values
| Year | Contributed | Nominal value | Purchasing power |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| 1 | $13,000 | $13,568 | $13,237 |
| 2 | $16,000 | $17,315 | $16,480 |
| 3 | $19,000 | $21,249 | $19,731 |
| 4 | $22,000 | $25,379 | $22,992 |
| 5 | $25,000 | $29,716 | $26,265 |
| 6 | $28,000 | $34,270 | $29,551 |
| 7 | $31,000 | $39,052 | $32,853 |
| 8 | $34,000 | $44,073 | $36,172 |
| 9 | $37,000 | $49,344 | $39,511 |
| 10 | $40,000 | $54,880 | $42,872 |
| 11 | $43,000 | $60,692 | $46,256 |
| 12 | $46,000 | $66,795 | $49,666 |
| 13 | $49,000 | $73,202 | $53,103 |
| 14 | $52,000 | $79,931 | $56,569 |
| 15 | $55,000 | $86,995 | $60,067 |
| 16 | $58,000 | $94,413 | $63,599 |
| 17 | $61,000 | $102,202 | $67,167 |
| 18 | $64,000 | $110,380 | $70,772 |
| 19 | $67,000 | $118,968 | $74,418 |
| 20 | $70,000 | $127,984 | $78,105 |
Regular purchases
The same dollars buy
a different number of shares.
Each fictional purchase below is $100. A lower price buys more shares; a higher price buys fewer. Change the prices and watch both the share count and ending value.
| Purchase | Price | Shares bought |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100 | 1.0000 |
| 2 | $80 | 1.2500 |
| 3 | $60 | 1.6667 |
$300 contributed$235.00 ending value-$65.00 gain / loss
Regular investing does not remove volatility or protect against loss. Investing income as it arrives also differs from holding an available lump sum in cash to invest it later; the latter can miss gains while it waits. Investor.gov definition · FINRA on the tradeoff.
What the numbers mean
More dollars.
More buying power?
Inflation changes what money can buy. Here, purchasing power is the nominal balance divided by the assumed cumulative rise in prices. Actual household spending and future inflation will differ. The BLS explains how the CPI measures price changes across a representative basket; this illustration uses your assumption, not a CPI forecast. BLS: understanding the CPI.
- Monthly effective return
- (1 + annual return)1/12 − 1
- End-of-month balance
- Prior balance × (1 + monthly return) + contribution
- Starting-date purchasing power
- Nominal balance ÷ (1 + annual inflation)elapsed years
The bumpy path adds a fixed oscillation to cumulative log returns and returns to the same terminal growth factor. It is an invented teaching device, not a realistic market model. Contributions interact with the path; deposits are not investment returns.
No stock, fund, cryptocurrency, or allocation is recommended here. A negative assumed return can reduce capital; a longer horizon does not guarantee a profit.