§ Tools / Series 03 · Personal finance · Bank product
Recurring deposit calculator
A fixed-rate, contract-style RD calculator. Deposit happens monthly, the bank usually compounds quarterly. The math bridges those two through an effective-annual yield plus a monthly-equivalent growth rate, then runs a per-month simulation as the source of truth. Closed-form formula is computed too, as a cross-check.
§ Why not just SIP math?
An RD is a bank deposit contract. The rate is locked, the maturity is contractual, and there is no market risk. SIPs invest into market instruments and require risk language. The math is similar but conflating them on one page misleads users; this calculator is deliberately scoped to the deterministic bank-product case.
3
Presets
5×
Compounding modes
7
Rate scenarios
Monthly
Per-period simulation
v1
Methodology
§ Start with a preset
Three starting points spanning short-tenure, default saver, and INR-context plans.
Inputs
Fixed monthly deposit · quoted bank rate · partial-year tenure first-class · everything recomputes instantly.
Maturity amount · gross
$20,068.65
36 monthly deposits of $500 over 3 years at 7% quarterly compounding. You deposited $18,000; the bank added $2,069.
Total deposited$18,000
Interest earned$2,069
Effective annual yield7.186%
Monthly deposit
$500
500 × ones
Contributions
36
36 months
Interest / deposit ratio
11.5%
bank's share of corpus
Effective annual yield
7.186%
vs typed 7% nominal
Monthly growth rate
0.5800%
(1 + eff)^(1/12) − 1
Cross-check Δ
0.0000
simulation vs closed-form
§ Year-wise balance
How does the corpus build up year by year?
Cumulative deposits Cumulative interest
§ Compounding comparison
Same deposit, same rate, same tenure, recomputed at each compounding frequency
| Compounding | Periods / yr | Effective yield | Monthly growth | Maturity | Interest | vs yearly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly | 1 | 7.0000% | 0.5654% | $20,013.23 | $2,013 | — |
| Half-yearly | 2 | 7.1225% | 0.5750% | $20,049.74 | $2,050 | +$36.51 |
| Quarterly selected | 4 | 7.1859% | 0.5800% | $20,068.65 | $2,069 | +$55.42 |
| Monthly | 12 | 7.2290% | 0.5833% | $20,081.51 | $2,082 | +$68.28 |
| Daily | 365 | 7.2501% | 0.5850% | $20,087.81 | $2,088 | +$74.58 |
§ Rate scenarios
What if the bank's quoted rate moves by 25 / 50 / 100 bps?
-100 bps
6.00%
$19,757
Maturity
-50 bps
6.50%
$19,912
Maturity
-25 bps
6.75%
$19,990
Maturity
Base
7.00%
$20,069
Maturity
+25 bps
7.25%
$20,147
Maturity
+50 bps
7.50%
$20,227
Maturity
+100 bps
8.00%
$20,386
Maturity
§ Yearly schedule
Opening · deposits · interest · closing, per year
| Year | Opening | Deposits | Interest | Closing | Cumulative deposits | Cumulative interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y1 | $0.00 | +$6,000.00 | +$231.07 | $6,231.07 | $6,000 | $231 |
| Y2 | $6,231.07 | +$6,000.00 | +$678.82 | $12,909.89 | $12,000 | $910 |
| Y3 | $12,909.89 | +$6,000.00 | +$1,158.76 | $20,068.65 | $18,000 | $2,069 |
§ Formula trace
- monthlyDeposit = 500 × ones = 500.00 USD / month
- effectiveAnnualYield = (1 + 7% / 4)^4 − 1 = 7.1859%
- monthlyGrowthRate = (1 + effAnnual)^(1/12) − 1 = 0.579963%
- totalTenureMonths = 3 × 12 + 0 = 36
- totalDeposited = 500.00 × 36 = 18000.00 USD
- maturityClosedForm = annuity(500.00, 0.5800%, 36, beginning) = 20068.65
- maturitySimulated = 20068.65 (cross-check Δ = 0.0000)
§ Input audit
annualRatePctused
compoundingused
currencyused
depositUnitused
monthlyDepositused
rateConventionused
taxRatePctdefaulted
tenureMonthsused
tenureYearsused
timingused
withholdingPctdefaulted
§ Warnings
- RD rates and rules vary by bank, jurisdiction, and tenure bracket. Interest is often taxable.
- Missed installments, premature withdrawal penalties, and overdraft against RD are not modeled.
§ Golden references · locked in tests
Reference case: $1,000/month, 12% nominal APR, 0y 6m, beginning-of-month. Total deposited = $6,000 in all rows; the spread is purely the compounding lever.
Yearly
$6,202.45
Half-yearly
$6,208.30
Quarterly
$6,211.40
Monthly
$6,213.54
Daily
$6,214.59
Timing fixture, same plan, end-of-month instead of beginning at quarterly compounding: maturity falls to $6,150.50. On a 6-month plan that ~$60 gap looks small; on multi-year RDs the same lever compounds materially.
§ Sibling tools
§ Same engine, headlessly
The per-month simulation, closed-form cross-check, compounding comparison, rate scenarios, and the yearly schedule are all reachable as a stateless REST endpoint and an MCP tool. Workbook CRUD is authenticated and stored under calculator_id=recurring_deposit.
POST/api/v1/financial-calculators/recurring-deposit/calculate
POST/api/v1/financial-calculators/recurring-deposit/run
GET/api/v1/financial-calculators/recurring-deposit/schema
GET/api/v1/financial-calculators/recurring-deposit/defaults
GET/api/v1/user/financial-calculator-workbooks?calculator_id=recurring_deposit · individual+
MCP tool
calculate_recurring_deposit_returnsmethodology_version = financial-calculators.v1 · canonical = /en/tools/recurring-deposit-calculator
§ FAQ
Six things worth knowing
Q01Why is "deposit timing" a first-class input?+
A deposit on day 1 of the month earns interest for that month; a deposit on day 28 earns almost nothing. Banks vary on which convention they use, but the gap compounds over years. The golden test fixture shows that on a 6-month, $6,000-deposited plan, beginning-of-month maturity is about $60 higher than end-of-month, and that gap grows materially on multi-year RDs.
Q02My bank quoted 7% compounded quarterly. Why does the effective yield differ?+
A quoted nominal APR and an effective annual yield are different things. 7% quarterly compounds to roughly 7.186% effective annual. The Compounding comparison table makes the gap explicit at yearly / half-yearly / quarterly / monthly / daily, so you can see whether the bank you are about to walk into actually beats the one you already use.
Q03Why a per-month simulation if there is a closed-form formula?+
The simulation is the authoritative path because it gives an exact per-month interest column, exposes the year-by-year schedule directly, and survives edge cases (zero rate, mid-year endpoints) without special casing. The closed-form annuity formula is computed as a cross-check; the cross-check delta is visible in the formula trace. If those two ever disagreed beyond rounding, the engine would flag it.
Q04What is not modeled?+
Missed installments, premature withdrawal penalties, partial withdrawals, overdraft against RD, and bank-specific quirks like quarter-end versus calendar-month interest crediting. Tax is modeled as a simple percentage on interest. Withholding is a separate field so TDS-style retention can be shown without conflating it with final tax.
Q05RD vs FD vs SIP, which one is this?+
This is the bank-product, fixed-rate calculator. Money you deposit every month, locked in at a contractual rate, with a guaranteed maturity number. SIPs are kept on a separate page because they invest into market-linked instruments. The math is similar but the risk language is fundamentally different, and conflating the two on one page tends to mislead users.
Q06Are RD returns guaranteed?+
In most jurisdictions, RDs are bank deposit contracts and the maturity amount is guaranteed by the bank (and often by deposit insurance up to a cap). The calculator computes the contractual figure; whether your specific bank honors it depends on its solvency and the local deposit-insurance regime. Always check both.