Figuring out finances with the assistance of a finance calculator

Finance calculators

wrangler / Shutterstock

Fact Checked: Amy Tokic

🗓️

Updated: December 04, 2024

Partners on this page provide us earnings.

Our daily lives are filled with expenses, both fixed and variable, all of which impact our cash flow and bank balances. Enter, finance calculators. Whether it’s paying off credit card balances, planning to buy a house or for retirement, the best way to manage your finances is to know exactly what you have to spend and what you need to save.

Finance calculators are a great tool to provide clarity and hard numbers, empowering you to make choices in your daily life that will help you achieve your financial goals.

Use our suite of finance calculators and know what you have, what you need and what you can do to effectively manage your money.

Net worth calculator

A net worth calculator is a powerful tool that helps you understand your financial standing by subtracting what you owe from what you own. It provides a clear snapshot of your wealth, making it easier to set goals, track progress, and make informed decisions about saving, investing, and spending.

Whether you're building your first budget or planning for retirement, knowing your net worth is the foundation of smart money management.

Investment growth calculator

The best way to see your investments grow is to make regular investments over time. Knowing how much that investment will ultimately grow is a good way to stay both informed and motivated to invest your money wisely. 

Use our investment calculator to determine how much your investment may grow before taxes, after taxes and inflation. You’ll also get some guidance on how you can fill the gap if your goal doesn't meet the projected outcome of your investment.

Savings calculator

Have some lofty (or any!) savings goals in mind?  Whether you need to save a lot in a short period of time or have longer term plans, you can figure out  if your goal is attainable and how you can get there — you just need to calculate it! 

Our savings calculator was built to help you reach your savings goals. You’ll see exactly what it will take to save the money you need, based on APR, your initial investment and your timeline. 

Debt to income ratio calculator

It’s vital to your financial health to know and understand your debt to income ratio — that is, how much debt you’re carrying and the impact your income has on managing it. Having debt is not generally a cause for concern, in fact, it helps your credit. It’s management of that debt that’s key.

Use a debt-to-income ratio  calculator to sum up all your monthly debt payments and divide that total by your gross monthly income. Once you see where all your money is going, and where it’s not, you’ll be able to make informed choices about what debt you can reasonably carry, and when you should put that credit card away. 

Credit card minimum payment calculator

Sometimes, it feels insurmountable to pay anything on your credit card debts at all. During times of particular financial hardship, making minimum payments may be all you can manage. Making minimum payments will keep your credit score from taking a hit for missed payments. But it’s important to understand the longer-term impact of not paying more than the minimum.

Our credit card minimum payment calculator helps shed light on how long it will take you to pay off your credit cards if you only make the minimum payments. Plug in your balance and your interest rate to see the estimated date you’ll be able to bring your balance to zero.

Credit card payoff calculator

It happens to the best of us. We charge things to our credit cards with the intention to pay it off but bit by bit (or, sometimes big expense by big expense) it gets to a point where paying it off in full is feeling more out of reach. Getting it paid off in full becomes a priority before it feels like an impossibility. 

Our credit card payoff calculator is a great tool to help get you on the path to zero balance. Use the calculator and set yourself up on an economical repayment plan, empowering you to get control of your credit card debt.

Mortgage calculator

It's not news that buying a house takes serious planning and saving. What might be news is exactly what that looks like on a practical level. That's how a mortgage calculator will become your best friend. Can you buy that home? Can you refinance your existing home to take advantage of a shift in the market? Hard numbers can answer those questions. 

Our mortgage calculator will lay all the numbers on the table and give you information you can use to guide the next steps on the path to home ownership. Learn what your payments will look like, and how other factors, such as amortization and interest rates, will impact what you can afford, so that you won't struggle making your monthly mortgage payments

Car loan calculator

Buying a new car? It can be really fun but it can also be easy to get carried away by the bells and whistles that add up to a hefty price tag. If you're not sure if you can even afford the base model of your next car, using our car loan calculator will help. 

Avoid making mistakes when you buy a car. Make sure you have all of the information you need to make a good decision. Know what your car payments will be, and how additional costs, such as interest, registration fees and loan length, will impact the final cost.

FAQ

  • How to use a finance calculator

    +

    First and foremost, determine your financial goals and look at what your spending and debt load. Then, review the various calculators available depending on the information you need, input your current balance, interest rate, payments and goal date to see, with real numbers, what you have to do to meet your target.

  • How to calculate loan payments

    +

    To calculate loan payments, review your principal amount, any fees, interest rate, loan terms and the length of the repayment term. Then, use a loan repayment calculator to calculate what payments will look like to repay the entirety of the loan.

Leslie Kennedy Senior Content Editor

Leslie Kennedy served as an editor at Thomson Reuters and for Star Media Group, followed by a number of years as a writer and editor and content manager in marketing communications, before returning to her editorial roots. She is a graduate of Humber College’s post-graduate journalism program and has been a professional writer and editor ever since.

Disclaimer

The content provided on Money.ca is information to help users become financially literate. It is neither tax nor legal advice, is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy. Tax, investment and all other decisions should be made, as appropriate, only with guidance from a qualified professional. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, either express or implied, with respect to the data provided, the timeliness thereof, the results to be obtained by the use thereof or any other matter. Advertisers are not responsible for the content of this site, including any editorials or reviews that may appear on this site. For complete and current information on any advertiser product, please visit their website.