Discount a future amount back to today's dollars. Essential for valuing settlements, pensions, or any future cash flow.
Estimates only. This tool is provided for educational purposes and is not financial advice. It models the figures you enter — it does not know your credit terms, local taxes, or fees. Talk to a licensed adviser before making a decision.
$100,000 received 15 years from now, discounted at 5%.
Present value: $48,102 — inflation and opportunity cost shrink that future $100k to about $48,102 today.
Present value (PV) discounts a future cash flow to today's dollars using a discount rate. It's how investors price bonds, lawsuits price settlements, and families value a future pension.
PV = FV ÷ (1 + r)t
What discount rate should I use?
Use your expected investment return or the rate you'd borrow at. Higher rates mean lower present value.
Why is PV lower than FV?
Because of the time value of money: a dollar today can earn interest, so a future dollar is worth less now.
Is this the same as net present value?
No — NPV subtracts the initial investment from the PV of future cash flows. PV is a single cash flow.