Present Value Calculator
Discount future money back to what it is worth today.
How to use
- 1 Enter the future lump sum you expect to receive.
- 2 Add a recurring payment per period if you are valuing an annuity.
- 3 Set the annual discount rate and the number of years.
- 4 Pick the compounding frequency and payment timing.
- 5 Read the present value and copy the summary.
About Present Value Calculator
The Present Value Calculator answers a core question in finance: what is money you will receive in the future actually worth today? Because a sum in hand can be invested and grow, a payment due years from now is worth less than its face value, and the present value is that future amount discounted back at a chosen rate.
Enter a future lump sum, a discount rate, and a horizon in years, and the tool returns today’s equivalent value, updating live as you change the inputs.
You can also add a recurring payment to value an annuity — a fixed amount received every period, such as a pension, lease or coupon.
The calculator reports the present value of the lump sum and of the payment stream separately as well as their total, so you can see exactly where the value comes from.
Choose how often discounting compounds (annually through to daily) and whether each payment lands at the start of the period (annuity-due) or the end (ordinary annuity).
A zero discount rate is handled gracefully, simply summing the undiscounted cash flows.
Everything is computed locally in your browser with no account and no data leaving your device, so it works offline and keeps your figures private.
It is useful for comparing a lump-sum payout against an income stream, sizing a loan, or sanity-checking an investment’s headline numbers.
FAQ
What discount rate should I use?
Use the return you could reasonably earn elsewhere on money of similar risk — for example your expected investment return or borrowing cost. A higher rate produces a lower present value.
What is the difference between an ordinary annuity and an annuity-due?
In an ordinary annuity payments arrive at the end of each period; in an annuity-due they arrive at the start. Because earlier money is discounted less, an annuity-due is worth slightly more.
Is this the same as net present value (NPV)?
It is the building block of NPV. This tool discounts a level future amount and a constant payment; NPV sums the present values of an arbitrary series of cash flows including the initial outlay.