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Present Value Calculator

What a future amount or payment stream is worth today.

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If the present value above exceeds this, the future money is worth more than the cash offer.

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How sensitive is this to the rate?

The discount rate is the judgment call, and small differences move long-dated values a lot.

Discount ratePresent valueDiscount factor

Present value

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From the lump sum—
From the payments—
Discount factor—
Number of periods—
Nominal total received—
Value lost to discounting—
Rate per period—

Quick Tool Overview

The Present Value Calculator discounts a future sum, a stream of payments, or both, back to what they are worth today. It is the tool behind every lump-sum-versus-instalments decision, from pension offers to legal settlements.

What it does
Calculates what future money is worth in today terms
You give it
A future amount or payment, a discount rate and a period
You get back
The present value, and the discount factor applied
Best for
Comparing a lump sum against a stream of payments
Calculators Free, unlimited use No sign-up Runs in your browser

About the Present Value Calculator

Enter a future amount, a discount rate and the number of periods to get the present value: what that money is worth today. The calculator handles a single future sum, a stream of equal payments, or both together.

Present value is the tool for any decision involving money at different times. Comparing a lump sum offer against instalments, valuing a pension against its cash alternative, judging whether a settlement is fair, deciding if a lease is better than a purchase: all of them reduce to discounting future amounts back to today at an appropriate rate. That rate is the judgment call, since it represents what you could otherwise earn, and small differences in it change long-dated values considerably.

Key features of the Present Value Calculator

Lump sum and annuity together

A future amount, a recurring payment, or an arrangement containing both.

The lump-sum decision

Compare a cash offer against the present value of the payments it replaces, which is the only fair test.

Rate sensitivity

Small changes in the discount rate move long-dated values a lot, and the calculator makes that visible.

Begin and end timing

Payments at the start or end of each period, which changes the value by one period of interest.

Any compounding frequency

Annual through daily, matched to how the arrangement actually pays.

How to use the Present Value Calculator

  1. 1

    Enter the future amount

    A single sum, a recurring payment, or both if the arrangement includes each.

  2. 2

    Set the discount rate

    The return you could earn elsewhere on money of comparable risk.

  3. 3

    Set the number of periods

    How far in the future the money arrives, and how often periods occur.

  4. 4

    Read the present value

    What the arrangement is worth today, which is the figure to compare against a cash offer.

Frequently asked questions

What a future amount of money is worth today, given that money available now could be invested and grow. It is the reverse of compounding: instead of growing a sum forward, you discount it back.

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