RD Calculator
Find out exactly what your recurring deposit will be worth at maturity. Enter your monthly deposit, the annual interest rate and the tenure — the calculator applies standard quarterly compounding and shows your maturity value, total deposits and interest earned, live as you type.
Calculate RD maturity
Monthly deposit, rate and tenure.
Advanced options — frequency, months and senior citizens
Quarterly compounding is the bank standard and stays the default; the other frequencies are for comparison. If you fill in months, the months figure is used instead of the years above. The senior-citizen premium is a bank-policy assumption, not a promise: major Indian banks commonly add 0.25–0.50% a year for depositors aged 60+ (0.50% in the published terms checked for this page, October 2026). Your bank’s own terms govern.
- Recurring deposits compound quarterly — the bank convention: interest is added every quarter, not every month, and the formula aligns monthly deposits to quarters.
- Worked example from the guide: $500 a month at 6.5% for 5 years → maturity $35,495.41 on $30,000 deposited — $5,495.41 of interest.
- At the same rate an FD can finish ahead because the full amount compounds from day one — an RD builds the sum paycheck by paycheck instead.
- Where the money comes from
- More finance tools to try
- Plan your RD in three steps
- Work backwards from a target
- Closing your RD early
- How RD interest is calculated
- RD in plain words
- Frequently asked questions
- The deposit ladder: doubling the deposit doubles the maturity
- Three years or five: what the extra two years buy
- Related Finance Calculators
Where the money comes from
Every RD is just your deposits plus the interest compounding earns on them.
| Year | Deposited | Value | Interest so far |
|---|
| Quarter | Deposited | Value | Interest so far |
|---|
Balance at each quarter-end, using the compounding frequency selected in the calculator (quarterly by default). The last row is the maturity value.
More finance tools to try
Handy calculators for savings and investing.
Plan your RD in three steps
Pick a deposit, a rate and a tenure — done.
How much you can save every month.
Your bank’s RD rate and the term.
Total, interest and year-by-year growth.
Work backwards from a target
Know the amount you want? Solve for the deposit — or for the time it takes.
This planner uses the monthly deposit, rate, tenure and compounding frequency from the calculator above. Enter a target maturity value, choose what to solve for, then calculate.
Closing your RD early
Estimate the payout if the RD is closed before maturity.
Banks that allow premature closure usually pay interest for the period the money actually stayed, at a rate reduced by a penalty. The published terms of major Indian banks put that penalty at 0.50–1.00% (1.00% is the common figure; a few charge up to 1.50% on very large deposits — checked October 2026). This estimator applies the penalty to your rate for the completed period: a simplified model of that rule, with the penalty shown as an editable assumption. Your bank’s exact terms govern the real payout.
RD in plain words: what it stands for, and how the formula works
RD stands for Recurring Deposit: a fixed amount deposited every month, for a fixed tenure, earning interest until maturity. The word recurring is the whole idea. Instead of one lump sum, you build the deposit paycheck by paycheck, and the bank pays interest on the growing balance. At maturity you receive everything you deposited plus the interest it earned.
Interest is compounded quarterly, the bank standard. With quarterly rate i equal to the annual rate divided by 4, and n equal to the number of quarters, the maturity of a monthly deposit R is: M = R times ((1+i) to the power n minus 1) divided by (1 minus (1+i) to the power minus one third). The minus one third exponent is what aligns monthly deposits to quarterly crediting. The calculator on this page applies exactly that formula, live as you type.
| Monthly deposit | Tenure | Deposited | Maturity at 6.5% (illustrative) | Interest earned |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $500 | 5 years | $30,000 | $35,495.41 | $5,495.41 |
| $250 | 3 years | $9,000 | $9,956.09 | $956.09 |
| $100 | 10 years | $12,000 | $16,898.80 | $4,898.80 |
These examples are illustrative, worked at a stated 6.5% rate with standard quarterly compounding. They are not quoted rates: RD rates differ by bank and by tenure, and they change, so this page carries no live rate table. Enter the rate from your own bank terms. Senior citizens commonly receive a premium of 0.25 to 0.50% a year under bank policy, which the Advanced options model as an editable assumption, not a promise. At a 0% rate there is no growth at all, and the maturity is exactly what was deposited.
⚙️How RD interest is calculated
Recurring deposits compound quarterly — that is the standard convention. With quarterly rate i = annual rate ÷ 4 and n = years × 4 quarters, the maturity of a monthly deposit R is:
Worked example: $500/month, 6.5% annual, 5 years → maturity $35,495.41, total deposited $30,000, interest earned $5,495.41. At a 0% rate the maturity is exactly your deposits — $30,000.
Compounding at another frequency uses the same shape of formula — i = annual rate ÷ periods per year, n = years × periods per year, and the −1/3 exponent becomes −(periods per year ÷ 12). Quarterly stays the bank standard and the default here; the Advanced options model the other frequencies for comparison.
Interest is not added every month — it is added every quarter. A deposit made in January earns interest from the first quarter-end onward, so deposits made later in a quarter start compounding slightly later. The −1/3 exponent in the formula accounts for this monthly-to-quarterly alignment.
The practical effect: more frequent compounding beats less frequent compounding at the same nominal rate. That is why the calculator uses the bank convention (quarterly) rather than simple annual compounding.
An RD suits fixed monthly savers — guaranteed rate, disciplined deposits. An FD is one lump sum locked in. A SIP invests monthly in markets with variable returns. At the same rate, $500/month for 5 years at 6.5% gives $35,495.41 in an RD; a $30,000 FD at 6.5% compounded quarterly for 5 years gives about $41,348. The FD wins because the full amount compounds from day one — but the RD lets you build it paycheck by paycheck.
Frequently asked questions
How is RD maturity calculated?
With quarterly compounding: M = R × ((1+i)ⁿ − 1) ÷ (1 − (1+i)^(−1/3)), where i is the quarterly rate (annual rate ÷ 4) and n is the number of quarters. Example: $500/month at 6.5% for 5 years matures to $35,495.41.
What is the RD maturity for $500/month at 6.5% for 5 years?
$35,495.41. You deposit $30,000 over 60 months and earn $5,495.41 in interest with standard quarterly compounding.
What happens if the interest rate is 0%?
Then there is no growth: the maturity equals exactly what you deposited. $500/month for 5 years at 0% returns $30,000. The calculator handles this edge case automatically.
Is RD interest compounded monthly or quarterly?
Quarterly is the standard convention, and the default in this calculator. Interest is credited at the end of each quarter, so deposits made mid-quarter start earning from the next credit date. The Advanced options also let you model monthly, half-yearly or yearly compounding for comparison.
Can I withdraw my RD before maturity?
Most banks allow premature closure, but usually with a penalty — typically a 1% lower rate applied to the completed period. The calculator shows the full-term value; check your bank’s premature-withdrawal terms for the exact penalty. The premature-closure estimator on this page models it for you: it applies the penalty to the completed period and compares the payout against the full-term value.
Is RD interest taxable?
In many countries RD interest is taxable as income, and banks may deduct tax at source above a threshold. This calculator shows pre-tax maturity — your after-tax amount depends on your local tax rules.
What does RD stand for, and what is a recurring deposit?
RD stands for Recurring Deposit: a fixed amount deposited every month for a fixed tenure, earning interest until maturity. You build the deposit paycheck by paycheck instead of paying in one lump sum, and at maturity you receive everything you deposited plus the interest it earned. For example, $500 a month at 6.5% for 5 years matures to $35,495.41 on $30,000 deposited, with standard quarterly compounding.
How do I calculate RD maturity by hand?
Use the quarterly compounding formula: M = R times ((1+i) to the power n minus 1) divided by (1 minus (1+i) to the power minus one third), where i is the quarterly rate (the annual rate divided by 4) and n is the number of quarters. For $500 a month at 6.5% for 5 years, i is 0.01625 and n is 20, giving $35,495.41 on $30,000 deposited. The calculator on this page applies the same formula, so enter your own monthly deposit, rate and tenure to get your figure.
If I double my monthly RD deposit, does the maturity value exactly double?
Yes. Maturity is linear in the deposit: at 6.5% over 5 years, $100 a month matures to $7,099.08, $250 to $17,747.70 and $500 to $35,495.41 — each a clean multiple of the others, because every unit of deposit earns identically. The rate and the tenure are what change the shape of the result; the deposit only scales it.
What happens to an RD if I miss a monthly deposit?
This calculator assumes every deposit is made on schedule, so a missed deposit makes the actual maturity lower than the figure shown. What a missed deposit costs — a penalty, a lower rate, or an extension of the tenure — depends on the scheme’s own rules, and schemes differ. Check your scheme’s terms before relying on the calculator’s figure for a deposit history with gaps in it.
The deposit ladder: doubling the deposit doubles the maturity
RD maturity scales exactly with the monthly deposit — the ladder below is one calculation, three times.
Recurring-deposit maturity is linear in the monthly deposit: every rupee of deposit earns the same interest as every other, so doubling the deposit doubles the maturity value exactly. At 6.5% with quarterly compounding over 5 years, $100 a month matures to $7,099.08, $250 a month to $17,747.70, and $500 a month to $35,495.41 on $30,000 deposited — each figure is the same calculation scaled, not three separate bargains. The practical use is budgeting: find the deposit that fits the month, read the maturity straight off the ladder, and know that any deposit between rungs scales the same way.
India’s Post Office RD — the scheme most Indian savers mean by “RD” — pays 6.7% a year with quarterly compounding over a 5-year tenure, a rate that is set by the government and revised quarterly; the general RD explainer and the Post Office scheme’s own rules are covered separately in Post Office recurring deposit explained. The calculator on this page is currency-neutral: enter any deposit, rate and tenure and it applies the same quarterly-compounding formula, so the ladder above can be rebuilt at whatever rate your own scheme pays.
| Monthly deposit | Deposited (5 years) | Maturity at 6.5% |
|---|---|---|
| $100 | $6,000 | $7,099.08 |
| $250 | $15,000 | $17,747.70 |
| $500 | $30,000 | $35,495.41 |
Three years or five: what the extra two years buy
The last two years add more than the first three — compounding pays late.
At $500 a month and 6.5%, three years matures to $19,912.19 on $18,000 deposited — interest of $1,912.19. Five years matures to $35,495.41 on $30,000 deposited — interest of $5,495.41. The extra two years add $12,000 of deposits but $3,583.22 of interest, nearly double the first three years’ interest, because the early deposits have had five years to compound instead of three. Time is doing more work than money in the second half of any recurring deposit, which is why extending a maturing RD — where the scheme allows it — is usually worth more than the headline rate suggests.
The same logic disciplines early closure. Closing early forfeits the late years when compounding is heaviest, and most schemes pay a lower rate on premature closure — so the cost of breaking an RD is not just the lost deposits, it is the lost compounding on the deposits already made. Before closing, compare the closure value with the cost of the alternative: a short loan against the RD, where the scheme allows one, often costs less than surrendering the compounding. This calculator assumes every deposit is made on schedule; missed deposits change the result, and your scheme’s own rules govern what a missed deposit costs.
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