How to Calculate Time Value of Money (TVM)
Related Calculators
Whether you’re borrowing for a home, car, or an education, investing in a CD, looking at stock market returns, or considering an annuity, it all depends on the same basic formula: the time value of money.
A calculator for the time value of money consists of five basic inputs.
- Future value: The estimated value of a current asset at a specified future date, based on the rate of return.
- Present value: The value of an expected sum of money, discounted by compounding interest rates to the present day.
- Interest rate or rate of return: This may be a nominal rate, or the “real” rate, which accounts for inflation.
- Time: Can also be expressed as the number of periods from start to finish.
- Payments: Could be contributions to an investment account or payments on a loan.
Using the calculator, you can answer pretty much any money math question by adding in all but one variable and “solving for X.” Once you’ve mastered the relationship between money and time, you can make saving, investing, and borrowing decisions with an extra dose of confidence.