ISGMLUG

We recently discovered this new interest calculator powered by PHP and with an AJAX interface.

A compound interest calculator is a vital tool for every person who has some savings in an account or one who aspires to save some money. It is used to determine how much money a person will have accumulated at a particular time, given that the interest rate and other similar factors remain constant. Various people require a compound interest calculator for various reasons. To start with, this tool can be used to determine how much money a person needs to save and at what intervals, in order to achieve a given financial goal. Alongside this, the calculator is capable of illustrating the total amount of interest that one needs to gather to hit a certain financial mark. Similarly, the calculator helps to determine how much profit a particular business ought to generate over a given period of time in order to realize a projected financial objective. Some people use the calculator to determine the extent to which their businesses or savings will be affected by inflation

Compounding of interest is usually done at regular intervals, with the most common periods being weekly, monthly, quarterly and semi-annually or on annual basis. In the U.S, for instance, some financial institutions calculate interest twice a year, implying that the interest earned in the first half of the year is added to the initial amount deposited and new interest is gained from this total during the second half of the year. The operation of advanced compound interest calculators is based on the basic formula used in normal/ academic calculations for compound interest, i.e.;
T= P (1+ R/N) Nt  
Where;
T= total amount accumulated
P= Principal /initial amount deposited
R= Interest rate (expressed as a decimal)
N= the number of times interest is compounded in a year (e.g. N= 12 if compounding is done monthly)
T= the number of years

As most individuals understand, altering one of the factors above can significantly adjust the final amount. For instance, assuming that a person saves the same amount of money and all other variables remain constant, the final amount will be relatively greater for 12 years of savings compared to 8 years. Thus, it is wiser to start saving at a younger age especially where compounding is practiced. The compound interest calculator is a fairly reliable tool to help an individual watch his or her savings soar.