Roth IRA Growth Calculator
A Roth IRA grows your retirement savings tax-free: you contribute money that has already been taxed, and qualified withdrawals in retirement, including all the investment growth, are not taxed at all. This calculator projects how a Roth IRA balance could grow over time. It compounds your current balance at an assumed annual return and adds the future value of each year's contribution. Enter your current balance, your annual contribution, an expected annual return, and the number of years until retirement, and the tool returns the projected balance and the total you will have contributed. Because qualified Roth withdrawals are tax-free, the projected balance is also the amount you could draw without owing income tax on the gains, a key advantage over pre-tax accounts. All inputs are editable so you can model different contribution levels, returns and time horizons and see the effect of compounding over decades. This is a projection using a fixed return and end-of-year contributions, not a guarantee, and the IRS sets annual Roth contribution limits and income eligibility rules that may apply. Every figure here is computed deterministically from the formula shown in full below, with a worked example that reconciles exactly to the calculator so you can follow each step.
A Roth IRA compounds tax-free: future value = balance times (1+r)^n plus the future value of yearly contributions. A $10,000 balance with $7,000 a year at 7% for 30 years projects to $737,348.05 tax-free.
Roth IRA Growth formula
FV = B x (1 + r)^n + C x [ ((1 + r)^n - 1) / r ]
B = current balance, C = annual contribution
r = annual return as a decimal, n = number of years
Qualified Roth withdrawals, including all growth, are tax-free
The current balance compounds on its own, while each annual contribution is grown to retirement and summed with the future-value-of-an-annuity factor; all qualified growth is tax-free.
Worked example
Project a 10,000 Roth balance with 7,000 annual contributions at 7% for 30 years.
- Growth factor: 1.07^30 = 7.612255
- Balance growth: 10,000 x 7.612255 = 76,122.55
- Annuity factor: (7.612255 - 1) / 0.07 = 94.460785
- Contributions grown: 7,000 x 94.460785 = 661,225.50
- Projected balance: 76,122.55 + 661,225.50 = 737,348.05
These are the calculator's default inputs, so the result above matches the widget exactly.
Roth IRA Growth Calculator: frequently asked questions
How is a Roth IRA taxed?
You contribute after-tax dollars to a Roth IRA, so contributions are not deductible. In return, qualified withdrawals in retirement, including all the investment growth, are completely tax-free, which is the account's main advantage.
What counts as a qualified withdrawal?
Generally, a withdrawal is qualified if the account has been open at least five years and you are age 59 and a half or older, among other conditions. Non-qualified withdrawals of earnings can be taxed and penalized.
What are the contribution limits?
The IRS sets an annual Roth IRA contribution limit, with an extra catch-up amount for those age 50 and over. Eligibility to contribute also phases out above certain income levels. Check the current IRS limits before contributing.
Why model tax-free growth separately?
Because a Roth's qualified withdrawals are not taxed, the projected balance is the spendable amount. A traditional pre-tax account of the same size would be reduced by income tax on withdrawal, so the Roth figure is directly comparable to after-tax needs.
What is the Roth IRA growth formula?
Future value equals the current balance times (1 plus return) to the power of years, plus the annual contribution times the future-value-of-an-annuity factor. With the defaults, the projection is 737,348.05.
Official sources
- US retirement and benefits guidance: US Social Security Administration (SSA). As at 25 June 2026.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 25 June 2026. See our methodology. This is general information, not financial, tax, legal or investment advice.