Understand the projection before trusting the number
What Will My Roth IRA Be Worth?
Correction: We corrected deposit timing and growth calculations, removed unsupported return and future-limit claims, and clarified when withdrawals are tax-free. Read the correction history.
There is no fixed Roth IRA return. Your future balance depends on what you start with, what you add, when you add it, what the investments earn and what you take out. A projection is a way to explore those assumptions—not a promise.
This FAQ explains the formula and timing. To change the inputs, use the Roth IRA calculator. For a smaller, step-by-step saving example, see starting at age 38.
First, make the assumptions visible
- Start with $0 and make equal $7,500 deposits at each year-end, beginning one year after the stated start age. Measure immediately after the last deposit at age 65.
- Invest each deposit; assume no withdrawals, missed deposits, contribution increases or catch-up additions.
- Use a constant hypothetical annual return after fees, with growth reinvested. Actual returns vary and can be negative.
- Assume the saver is eligible to contribute the full amount every year and makes no other regular IRA contributions. This is not a projection of future contribution limits.
The $7,500 illustration matches the 2026 under-50 annual IRA limit, but the permitted contribution also depends on qualifying compensation, income eligibility and other regular Traditional/Roth contributions. It is not everyone's allowance or a recommended saving amount. See IRS Notice 2025-67 and our contribution guide.
The formula has a deposit date built into it
For equal deposits at the end of each year, starting from $0:
P is the annual deposit; r is the constant annual return as a decimal; n is the number of deposits. At a 0% return, use P × n instead.
For $7,500, 7% and 30 years, the result rounded to cents is $708,455.90. If the same 30 deposits instead arrive at the beginning of each year, each has one extra year to grow: multiply by 1.07 to get $758,047.81. Neither schedule is automatically the right description of your saving habits.
Both schedules have 30 deposits totaling $225,000. Results are rounded to the nearest dollar outside the formula walkthrough. Monthly deposits need a model that specifies monthly timing; changing frequency can change the result.
What if I already have money invested?
For an initial balance B, add B × (1 + r)n to the year-end contribution formula. The initial balance grows for the full period. This still assumes a constant return and no withdrawals. Irregular deposits or withdrawals need a cash-flow model rather than this shortcut.
The SEC's compound-interest calculator separates initial balance, contributions, time and return assumptions. Its contribution input is monthly; our tables use the annual formula above.
Starting age changes both deposits and growth time
Each row uses the same hypothetical 7% net annual return and $7,500 year-end deposits. A start at 35 means 30 deposits, from one year after starting through age 65—not 31 deposits.
| Start age | Deposits | Total added | Ending balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 40 | $300,000 | $1,497,263 |
| 30 | 35 | $262,500 | $1,036,777 |
| 35 | 30 | $225,000 | $708,456 |
| 40 | 25 | $187,500 | $474,368 |
| 45 | 20 | $150,000 | $307,466 |
| 50 | 15 | $112,500 | $188,468 |
These are comparisons, not retirement targets. Starting earlier adds more deposits as well as more time for the earlier deposits to grow. A higher balance does not establish that someone can retire or that their withdrawals will be tax-free.
Change the return, keep everything else the same
Here are three illustrations for 30 year-end deposits of $7,500. Green shows the $225,000 contributed; gold shows the growth produced by the assumed return.
$225,000 deposits + $0 hypothetical growth
$225,000 deposits + $273,291 hypothetical growth
$225,000 deposits + $483,456 hypothetical growth
The 5% and 7% results differ by $210,165. That is sensitivity to an assumption, not evidence that a particular investment will earn either return. A Roth IRA is an account type, not an investment with a standard rate.
These scenarios are not a likely range, a floor or recommended planning rates. Real returns can be below 0%, and an account can finish below the amount deposited. With ongoing deposits or withdrawals, the order of returns can affect the ending balance; a constant-rate formula does not model that sequence.
See Investor.gov on investment risk and how fees reduce investment returns. Fees, investment choices and contribution timing belong in the assumptions, not in a blanket Roth return estimate.
A future dollar and today's dollar are not the same
Nominal means the dollar balance at the future date. Real means adjusted for inflation to express purchasing power. Both can be useful, but they answer different questions.
With a hypothetical constant 3% annual inflation rate, divide a balance 30 years away by 1.0330. The $708,456 year-end example is about $291,874 in today's purchasing power, calculated from the unrounded balance. That is not a forecast of inflation.
Why not just subtract inflation from the return?
The exact real-return formula is (1 + nominal return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. A hypothetical 10% nominal return and 3% inflation produce about 6.80% real, not exactly 7%.
Keep contribution units consistent too: fixed $7,500 future-dollar deposits lose purchasing power over time if prices rise. Putting a fixed $7,500 in today's dollars into a real-return formula instead assumes that nominal deposits rise with inflation. That is a different saving plan, and contribution eligibility and limits still apply.
Account value is not automatically tax-free spending money
A qualified Roth IRA distribution is federally tax-free. For the usual age-based route, you must be at least 59½ and meet the five-tax-year requirement, measured from the first tax year for which a contribution was made to a Roth IRA set up for your benefit. The IRS also provides other qualifying circumstances, each with its own conditions.
Regular contributions generally come out first under the Roth IRA ordering rules and are not included in income. Conversions and earnings have different rules; nonqualified earnings can be taxable and may face an additional tax. A projected balance alone cannot determine that treatment.
See IRS Publication 590-B, “What Are Qualified Distributions?” and “Ordering Rules for Distributions,” or our withdrawal guide.
Common questions
Will my Roth IRA reach $1 million?
It might, but no contribution schedule guarantees it. Under the specific $7,500 year-end, steady 7% assumptions here, 35 deposits produce about $1,036,777. Change the return, timing, deposits or withdrawals and the answer changes. That number is nominal future dollars, not a promised retirement income.
What return should I put in a calculator?
There is no universal Roth IRA return. Identify the investments, fees, time horizon and whether the calculator expects nominal or inflation-adjusted returns. Compare several clearly labeled assumptions rather than treating one output as an expected result.
Do higher future contribution limits automatically increase my projection?
No. A fixed-deposit illustration stays fixed unless you change the contribution input. Future legal limits and your ability or eligibility to contribute may change. Do not treat an assumed future limit as an announced IRS amount.
Use the result to ask better questions
Before comparing two projections, check their starting balance, deposit dates, return after fees, inflation treatment and withdrawal assumptions. Two different results can both be mathematically correct while describing different saving plans.
Try your own assumptions · Read the worked examples · How an IRA earns a return
Corrections and updates
October 26, 2026 — Significant correction. Earlier text mixed year-end and beginning-of-year deposits and presented inconsistent balances in the lead, age table and return comparisons. We recalculated the examples with explicit deposit timing, separated nominal balances from inflation-adjusted purchasing power, and corrected the real-return explanation. Removed unsupported asset-class return benchmarks, forecasts of future contribution limits and blanket fee-impact figures. Replaced unconditional tax-free withdrawal and million-dollar outcome statements with their conditions and limitations. The original April 26, 2026 publication date is preserved.