Compound interest is the difference between the cash you contribute to an investment and the actual future value of the investment. In this case, by contributing just $19,800 per year with the annual contribution being increased by 3% per year (cumulative contributions of $918,532) you are able to accumulate $4,762,955 over 28 years. Compound interest makes up $3,844,423 of your future balance. <div id="chart1Container">Chart will load here</div> <script type="text/javascript"> <!-- var myChart1 = new FusionCharts( "Pie2D", "myChart1Id", "100%", "100%", "0", "1" ); myChart1.setXMLData("<chart showValues='1' showFCMenuItem='0' decimals='0' formatNumberScale='0' startingAngle='45' enableRotation='1' caption='Value Of Compound Interest' xAxisName='' numberPrefix='$' bgColor='FFFFFF' showBorder='1' borderColor='FFFFFF' borderThickness='1' canvasBgColor='ffffff' showAlternateHGridColor='0' plotGradientColor='' numberSuffix='' thousandSeparator=',' decimalSeparator='.'><set value='68500.0' label='Beginning Balance' /><set value='850032.0' label='Annual Contributions' /><set value='3844423.0' label='Compound Interest' /></chart>"); // --> </script> <table class='pure-table pure-table-bordered' role='grid'><tr><th scope="col">Year</th><th scope="col">Beginning Balance</th><th scope="col">Savings @ 3.00%</th><th scope="col">Interest @ 10.00%</th><th scope="col">Ending Balance</th></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">1</td><td>$68,500</td><td>$19,800</td><td>$8,830</td><td>$97,130</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">2</td><td>97,130</td><td>20,394</td><td>11,752</td><td>129,276</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">3</td><td>129,276</td><td>21,006</td><td>15,028</td><td>165,310</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">4</td><td>165,310</td><td>21,636</td><td>18,695</td><td>205,641</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">5</td><td>205,641</td><td>22,285</td><td>22,793</td><td>250,719</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">6</td><td>250,719</td><td>22,954</td><td>27,367</td><td>301,040</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">7</td><td>301,040</td><td>23,642</td><td>32,468</td><td>357,150</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">8</td><td>357,150</td><td>24,352</td><td>38,150</td><td>419,652</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">9</td><td>419,652</td><td>25,082</td><td>44,473</td><td>489,207</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">10</td><td>489,207</td><td>25,835</td><td>51,504</td><td>566,546</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">11</td><td>566,546</td><td>26,610</td><td>59,316</td><td>652,471</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">12</td><td>652,471</td><td>27,408</td><td>67,988</td><td>747,867</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">13</td><td>747,867</td><td>28,230</td><td>77,610</td><td>853,706</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">14</td><td>853,706</td><td>29,077</td><td>88,278</td><td>971,062</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">15</td><td>971,062</td><td>29,949</td><td>100,101</td><td>1,101,112</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">16</td><td>1,101,112</td><td>30,848</td><td>113,196</td><td>1,245,156</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">17</td><td>1,245,156</td><td>31,773</td><td>127,693</td><td>1,404,622</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">18</td><td>1,404,622</td><td>32,726</td><td>143,735</td><td>1,581,083</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">19</td><td>1,581,083</td><td>33,708</td><td>161,479</td><td>1,776,270</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">20</td><td>1,776,270</td><td>34,719</td><td>181,099</td><td>1,992,089</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">21</td><td>1,992,089</td><td>35,761</td><td>202,785</td><td>2,230,635</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">22</td><td>2,230,635</td><td>36,834</td><td>226,747</td><td>2,494,215</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">23</td><td>2,494,215</td><td>37,939</td><td>253,215</td><td>2,785,370</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">24</td><td>2,785,370</td><td>39,077</td><td>282,445</td><td>3,106,891</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">25</td><td>3,106,891</td><td>40,249</td><td>314,714</td><td>3,461,855</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">26</td><td>3,461,855</td><td>41,457</td><td>350,331</td><td>3,853,643</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">27</td><td>3,853,643</td><td>42,701</td><td>389,634</td><td>4,285,977</td></tr><tr><td role="rowheader" scope="row">28</td><td>4,285,977</td><td>43,982</td><td>432,996</td><td>4,762,955</td></tr></table>