Zoe Academy

The Honest Number

How to read a financial illustration before you trust it.

A projected ending value depends on what goes in, how long it stays, and the assumed growth rate. Change one assumption and see what happens.

Yearly amount$5,000Years25Assumed annual growth rate6%

Hypothetical ending value

$274,323

What you put in: $125,000

Growth from the assumption: $149,323

Same deposits. Different assumptions.

$182,296

$274,323

$423,504

Understand your current numbers

Each year, the previous balance grows at the selected rate, then the annual deposit is added. The last deposit has no time to grow. The calculation below follows your controls.

$5,000 × 25 = $125,000

At 0%, ending value equals annual deposit × years. Otherwise: annual deposit × ((1 + annual rate)^years − 1) ÷ annual rate.

Equal deposits at the end of each year. Annual compounding at a constant hypothetical rate. No fees, taxes, withdrawals, missed deposits, or changing returns. These rates are examples, not forecasts or guarantees. This is not a policy or investment projection.

Questions to verify

What rate and deposit timing does the illustration assume?
Which values are guaranteed, and which depend on future performance?
What fees, taxes, policy charges, or withdrawals are missing from this example?

Check your understanding

With deposits and years held constant, what changes the projected ending value?

Does a hypothetical 9% rate promise a 9% return?

When does this calculator add each deposit?

The Honest Number

Generated:

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Your inputs

Yearly amount: $5,000
Years: 25
Assumed annual growth rate: 6%

Calculated results

Hypothetical ending value: $274,323
What you put in: $125,000
Growth from the assumption: $149,323
3%: $182,296
6%: $274,323
9%: $423,504

Assumptions and limitations

Equal deposits at the end of each year. Annual compounding at a constant hypothetical rate. No fees, taxes, withdrawals, missed deposits, or changing returns. These rates are examples, not forecasts or guarantees. This is not a policy or investment projection.: Actual future returns, costs, taxes, and product terms are unknown here.

Questions to verify

1: What rate and deposit timing does the illustration assume?
2: Which values are guaranteed, and which depend on future performance?
3: What fees, taxes, policy charges, or withdrawals are missing from this example?