Present value calculator
What a future sum, or a series of payments, is worth in today’s money.
About this calculator
This present value calculator works out what money you will receive in the future is worth today. Enter the amount, the discount rate and how many years away it is.
It also values a stream of regular payments, such as a pension, a settlement or rental income.
How it works
Present value = future amount ÷ (1 + rate)^years. For regular payments, each one is discounted back from the month it arrives and the results are added up.
Last reviewed:
Worked example
- Value of: A single future amount
- Future amount: $10,000
- Discount rate: 5% a year
- Years from now: 10 years
Present value: $6,139.13
Common questions
What is present value?
What a future sum is worth now, given that money today can earn interest. $10,000 in 10 years is worth about $6,139 today at 5% a year.
What discount rate should I use?
The return you could earn elsewhere with similar risk, such as a savings rate for safe money or an expected investment return for riskier cash.
What is the difference between present value and NPV?
NPV, net present value, adds up the present values of money in and money out, including the cost today. The IRR calculator works it out for a series of cash flows.
The story behind it
Where the idea came from: The economist Irving Fisher set out the idea that money today is worth more than money tomorrow in his 1930 book The Theory of Interest.
Merchants had long discounted future payments in practice, and Fibonacci even worked examples in 1202. Fisher turned it into the theory behind every bond price, pension valuation and investment decision. This calculator applies the same discounting.
Why you can trust this calculator
- It runs in your browser. Nothing you type into it is sent anywhere.
- The method is explained on this page, so you can check it yourself.
- Free to use, with no sign-up.
- Results are estimates, not financial advice.
- Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll look into it.
After 15 years as a mathematics educator, I built CalculStore to give students, teachers, professionals and anyone working with numbers simple, reliable tools.
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