Finance Calculators

Money arithmetic is where small mistakes get expensive. A rate quoted monthly instead of yearly, a term in months treated as years, or a markup used where a margin was meant will all produce an answer that looks perfectly reasonable and is wrong by a wide margin. These calculators apply the standard published formulas, show the figures they derived along the way, and say plainly what they have left out.

Which one do you need?

For borrowing, start with the loan calculator for a general repayment figure, the mortgage calculator when there is a deposit and a property price involved, or the EMI calculator if your lender quotes an equated monthly instalment. The amortisation schedule shows where every payment goes, month by month, which is the fastest way to see how little of an early payment touches the balance.

For saving and investing, the compound interest calculator handles a lump sum, the SIP calculator handles a monthly contribution, and the savings goal calculator works backwards from the amount you need. To judge something that has already happened, the ROI calculator gives the plain return and the CAGR calculator turns it into a yearly rate you can compare with anything else.

What these figures do not include

Unless a calculator asks for it, assume a fee is not in the answer. Arrangement fees, early repayment charges, insurance a lender requires, platform charges, tax on interest and the effect of inflation are all real costs that vary by country, product and circumstance, and inventing a figure for them would be worse than leaving them out. Where a calculator can show the gap -- the difference tax makes, or what inflation does to a future balance -- it does, and it labels it.

None of this is financial advice. These tools tell you what the numbers do. Whether a decision is right for you depends on things no calculator knows, so check anything that matters against the actual offer and speak to someone qualified.