The Money Decoded

Calculators

FD / CD Maturity Calculator

Educational content only, not financial advice

A ₹1 lakh Fixed Deposit at 7% nominal with quarterly compounding for 5 years matures to roughly ₹1,41,478, interest earned of ₹41,478 and effective annual yield of 7.19%. A $10,000 Certificate of Deposit at 4.0% APY for 5 years matures to roughly $12,167. The calculator below lets you compare three tenures side by side in either currency, so you can see the time-vs-yield trade-off at a glance. One rule worth carrying in: enter a US APY with compounding set to yearly, because an APY already includes the compounding.

Lump sum committed at FD booking. Typical Indian household FDs are ₹50,000 to ₹10 lakh.

Enter the bank's nominal rate. RBI put term deposits over 1 year at 6.00% to 6.70% as at 17 Jul 2026; SBI's card rates top out at 6.40% for the general public. Rates move quarterly, so check your bank.

1 year

Maturity value

₹1,07,186

Total interest earned
₹7,186
Effective annual yield
7.19%

3 years

Maturity value

₹1,23,144

Total interest earned
₹23,144
Effective annual yield
7.19%

5 years

Maturity value

₹1,41,478

Total interest earned
₹41,478
Effective annual yield
7.19%

Compare three tenures at the same rate and compounding to see the time-vs-yield trade-off directly. Effective yield is what you actually earn per year after compounding kicks in, a 7% nominal rate with quarterly compounding produces a 7.19% effective yield. The longer the tenure, the more the compounding effect accumulates on the principal.

The math behind the calculator

Fixed Deposits and Certificates of Deposit both use the standard compound interest formula on a single lump-sum deposit:

A = P × (1 + r/n)^(n × t)
  • A is the maturity amount.
  • P is the principal, the lump sum committed.
  • r is the annual interest rate as a decimal (7% → 0.07).
  • n is the number of compounding periods per year (12 monthly, 4 quarterly, 2 half-yearly, 1 annually).
  • t is the tenure in years.

Indian banks typically compound FDs quarterly. US banks typically compound CDs monthly or daily. The calculator exposes the compounding frequency as an explicit input so the math matches your specific product. For comparison across banks, the most useful number is the effective annual yield, what you actually earn per year after compounding kicks in.

A worked example

Take ₹5 lakh deposited into a 3-year FD at 7.5% nominal with quarterly compounding (typical Indian FD configuration):

  • Principal: ₹5,00,000
  • Rate: 7.5% nominal, quarterly compounding (n=4)
  • Tenure: 3 years
  • Maturity value: ₹6,24,930
  • Interest earned: ₹1,24,930
  • Effective annual yield: 7.71%

The same ₹5 lakh at the same 7.5% rate but with annual compounding matures to ₹6,21,098, roughly ₹3,832 less than quarterly compounding produces over the same tenure. Small per-year difference, meaningful rupee difference because compounding effects accumulate non-linearly with tenure.

The US equivalent: $10,000 in a 3-year CD at 4.0% APY matures to roughly $11,249, interest earned of $1,249. There is no extra effective-yield uplift to add here, because the 4.0% is already an APY. That is the difference between the two markets in one line: India quotes a nominal rate and leaves you to apply the compounding, while the US quotes the finished number.

Pair this calculator with the explainers

For the full mechanics of FDs and CDs, early-withdrawal penalties, senior-citizen rate bumps, the bank-selection math, and tax treatment, see our companion piece: What Is FD vs CD Explained. For the underlying compound interest concept that drives the maturity calculation, see What Is Compound Interest Explained Simply. For how FDs and CDs are protected by national deposit insurance, see FDIC vs DICGC Deposit Insurance Explained. For the savings-account alternative when you need full liquidity rather than locking in a tenure, see What Is a Savings Account.

The most useful experiment in the calculator is comparing the same principal at 1, 3, and 5 year tenures with the same compounding frequency. The 3-year tenure usually offers the highest nominal rate at most Indian banks (rates often peak at the 2-3 year band before flattening), and the effective yield gap between 1 and 5 years shows how much compounding rewards patience.

Frequently asked questions

What interest rate should I enter, nominal or APY?

It depends on the currency, and getting this wrong is easy. For Indian FDs, enter the nominal rate the bank publishes (say 7.0%) and pick the matching compounding frequency, which is quarterly at almost every Indian bank. The maturity value will then match the bank's own published figure. For US CDs, enter the APY the bank advertises and leave compounding on yearly. An APY already includes the compounding effect, so selecting monthly on top of it counts the compounding twice and overstates the result: $10,000 at 4.5% APY over 5 years is $12,462, but entering that same 4.5% with monthly compounding returns about $12,518. We had this wrong on this page until July 2026, and the giveaway was a calculator that turned a 4.5% APY input into a 4.59% effective yield.

Why does compounding frequency matter so much?

Quarterly compounding produces meaningfully higher effective yield than annual compounding on the same nominal rate, and monthly higher than quarterly. A 7% nominal rate compounded annually produces 7.00% effective yield; the same 7% nominal compounded quarterly produces 7.19% effective; compounded monthly produces 7.23%. The difference is small in a single year but compounds across 3-5 year tenures into meaningful rupee/dollar differences on large principals.

Can I model partial-tenure or non-integer-year FDs?

Yes. Enter the tenure as a decimal, 1.5 years for 18 months, 2.5 years for 30 months, 0.5 years for 6 months. The compound interest formula handles non-integer years correctly. Most Indian banks offer FDs in tenure buckets (7 days, 14 days, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, then yearly increments to 10 years), so check the bank's actual tenure offerings before booking, the calculator will produce a mathematically correct result for any tenure you enter, but the bank may not offer it.

Does this calculator account for TDS or income tax?

No, the maturity value shown is the gross amount before tax. In India, FD interest is fully taxable as ordinary income at your slab rate, with TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) deducted at 10% on interest above ₹50,000 per bank per year (₹1,00,000 for senior citizens), thresholds raised by Budget 2025 with effect from 1 April 2025. In the US, CD interest is reported on Form 1099-INT and taxed at federal and state marginal rates. For after-tax planning, multiply the maturity value by (1 − your marginal tax rate) on the interest portion only, principal is never taxed.

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