Present Value Calculator
Future money is worth less than money in hand. Enter an amount you expect to receive — an inheritance, a payout, a target balance — and see what it's worth in today's dollars at your chosen discount rate.
▸ Show year-by-year breakdown
| Period | Growth so far | Value |
|---|
Estimates are for illustration and education only — not financial advice. Rates are assumed constant and are not guaranteed.
What "present value" actually means
Present value (PV) is the mirror image of future value: instead of asking what today's money grows into, it asks what tomorrow's money is worth right now. The logic is simple — a dollar you'll receive in ten years is worth less than a dollar today, because a dollar today could be invested and grow in the meantime. Discounting reverses that growth.
The formula behind the numbers
PV = FV ÷ (1 + i)n, where i is the discount rate per period and n the number of periods. It's the future value formula run backwards. The higher the rate or the longer the wait, the smaller the present value — and the effect compounds, so long horizons shrink future money dramatically.
Choosing a discount rate
The discount rate represents your opportunity cost — what the money could reasonably earn elsewhere. A common choice is a safe bond yield or your expected portfolio return. Comparing a guaranteed future payment against a risky alternative? Use a lower rate for the guaranteed one. The "each future dollar is worth" stat shows the discount as cents on the dollar, which makes horizons easy to compare.
Where people actually use this
Deciding between a lump-sum payout and installments, valuing a zero-coupon bond, judging whether a delayed bonus is worth waiting for, or translating a retirement target into today's terms. And once you know the present value, our future value calculator runs the same math forward, while the savings goal calculator tells you how to save toward the future amount yourself.
What $100,000 in the future is worth today
Present value of a $100,000 payment, discounted with monthly compounding. Notice how fast long waits shrink the value at higher rates.
| Rate | In 5 years | In 10 years | In 20 years | In 30 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | $90,506 | $81,914 | $67,099 | $54,963 |
| 4% | $81,905 | $67,084 | $45,002 | $30,187 |
| 6% | $74,137 | $54,963 | $30,210 | $16,605 |
| 8% | $67,121 | $45,052 | $20,297 | $9,145 |
| 10% | $60,780 | $36,941 | $13,646 | $5,041 |
Figures are rounded and assume a constant rate with monthly compounding — illustrative only.
The present value formula
Present value runs future value in reverse: it discounts a future amount back to what it's worth today, because a dollar in the future is worth less than a dollar in hand.