Growth calculator

What could your pot be worth?

A simple compound-growth calculator with realistic defaults. Toggle between pension mode (includes tax relief) and standard investment mode (shows net-of-exit-tax outcome).

Starting lump sum €5,000

Monthly contribution €250

Years invested 30 yrs

Gross return assumption 6.0%

Annual management charge 0.75%

Your marginal income tax rate 40%

Projected pension pot

Your contributions€0

Tax relief added€0

Investment growth€0

Projected pot at retirement€0

About the maths. Net return = gross return minus AMC, compounded monthly. Pension mode adds tax relief at your marginal rate on each contribution (assuming you haven't hit the age-based limit). Investment mode applies 41% exit tax to the gain at the end of the term.

What the inputs actually mean

A sense-check on the assumptions

Gross return

A diversified equity-weighted fund has returned roughly 7–10% p.a. over long periods, a cautious multi-asset fund 4–6%. Use lower numbers if you want a margin of safety.

AMC

Typical range: 0.35% for a passive index fund up to 1.15% for an actively-managed pension. Over 30 years, the difference between 0.5% and 1.25% can be worth 20% of your final pot.

Tax relief

If you pay 40% income tax, every €1,000 into a pension only costs you €600 — Revenue refunds the rest. This is the single biggest advantage of pensions over standard investments.