ETF Savings Plan Calculator: what does your monthly contribution really add up to?
Start with today's capital, your monthly contribution and an expected return — and see instantly how much is contributions and how much is interest earned.
Simplified model with a fixed return, not investment advice. Actual returns fluctuate.
After 20 years you'd have roughly €105,377.00.
Assuming a return of 7% per year, before taxes and fees.
Final capital
€105,377.00
Contributed
€49,000.00
Interest earned
€56,377.00
How it works
The savings plan calculator in detail
Three things that shape a savings plan over the years.
Compound interest
Every gain gets reinvested and earns further gains on its own — the strongest lever over long horizons.
Regularity beats timing
A fixed monthly rate smooths out price swings (dollar-cost averaging) and doesn't require perfect market timing.
Time is the biggest factor
Saving ten years longer often matters more than a higher rate — try it in the calculator.
Background
Understanding ETF savings plans
An ETF savings plan is an automatic, recurring purchase of an exchange-traded index fund — usually monthly, often starting from as little as 25 or 50 euros. Instead of investing a large sum at once, you build up wealth gradually. Most brokers offer free or very low-cost ETF savings plans on broadly diversified indices such as the MSCI World or FTSE All-World.
The end result depends on three factors: the monthly contribution, the time horizon, and the assumed return. Of these three, the time horizon is often the most underestimated — thanks to compound interest, a portfolio grows noticeably faster in the later years of a long time horizon, because past returns start earning returns of their own.
A worked example: investing 200 EUR per month for 20 years at an assumed 7% annual return means paying in 48,000 EUR in total — but the final capital comes to around 101,500 EUR, more than double the amount paid in. That difference is entirely due to compounding.
One important caveat: the 6-8% return often cited for broadly diversified equity ETFs is a long-run historical average, not a guarantee. Individual years can vary significantly, including downward. A savings plan smooths this risk over time (the cost-average effect), but does not eliminate it.
Frequently asked
Questions about the savings plan calculator
A savings plan calculator shows how starting capital plus a regular monthly contribution grows over time through compound interest — split into capital contributed and interest earned.
Broadly diversified equity ETFs have historically averaged roughly 6–8% per year before inflation over long periods — no guarantee for the future, just a rough guide for the input.
The calculator assumes a constant annual return and doesn't account for taxes, fees, or market swings — it's a rough guide, not financial advice.
Many brokers allow contributions starting from as little as 1-25 EUR. A savings plan makes sense regardless of the amount — what matters more than the starting size is sticking with it consistently, even if the rate starts small.
Yes, with virtually all brokers you can adjust, pause, or stop the contribution rate at any time, with no notice period. Shares already purchased are unaffected.
Yes. Capital gains on sale and distributions are subject to the German flat capital gains tax, and accumulating ETFs are additionally subject to the annual Vorabpauschale (advance lump sum). The annual tax-free allowance (1,000 EUR, or 2,000 EUR for jointly assessed couples) reduces the tax burden if an exemption order is set up with the broker.
Assuming 7% p.a. (a historical average for broad equity ETFs, not a guarantee), roughly: 500 EUR/month over 20 years reaches about 254,000 EUR, over 30 years about 585,000 EUR. At 1,000 EUR/month it's about 508,000 EUR over 20 years and about 1.17 million EUR over 30 years. Enter your own rate and horizon in the calculator above for your specific scenario.
At 7% p.a. and a constant monthly contribution, it takes roughly 38 years at 500 EUR/month, or roughly 29 years at 1,000 EUR/month, to reach one million — before taxes and inflation, which reduce real purchasing power. The higher the rate or the longer the horizon, the more compounding accelerates growth in the final years.
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