Present Value Calculator
$
% / year
years
$
Received each year
Result
Enter your values, then select Calculate.
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Why future money is worth less today
A dollar you will not see for ten years cannot be invested, spent, or earn interest meanwhile. Discounting reverses compounding: PV = FV ÷ (1 + r)n. At 5%, $10,000 arriving in ten years is worth 10,000 ÷ 1.0510 ≈ $6,139.13 today. The rate you choose is your "hurdle" — what you could otherwise earn — so it drives the whole answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What discount rate should I use?
Common choices are your expected investment return, a loan interest rate, or (in corporate settings) a weighted cost of capital. Higher risk deserves a higher rate, which produces a lower present value.
What does the optional payment do?
It adds the present value of a level stream of yearly payments to the single future sum. "Beginning" timing (an annuity due) values each payment one year sooner, so it is worth more.