CAPITAL CLARO
Clearer money decisions.
Understand the concepts, test your assumptions and put your own figures into context. Financial education, without promises of easy returns.
Explore the guides
Guides
Compound interest: the formula and its limits
Compounding means that the result of one period becomes part of the starting amount for the next. It describes a calculation, not a promise that an investment will earn a positive return.
Translation draft — pending human editorial review.Build a monthly budget around your actual spending
A useful budget explains where your income goes and when you need it. Start with actual transactions, rather than forcing your circumstances into a fixed percentage rule.
Translation draft — pending human editorial review.Inflation and the purchasing power of your money
Inflation describes a general increase in prices. When income stays the same and the cost of your purchases rises, the same amount of money buys less. Not every price changes at the same pace.
Calculators
Compound interest
An effective annual rate is converted to its equivalent monthly rate. Contributions are made at the end of each month. Taxes, fees and inflation are excluded. The rate is a scenario, not a forecast.
Monthly budget
Income minus fixed expenses, variable expenses, debt payments and planned savings gives the unallocated margin. A negative result is a deficit. Do not count a debt payment again as a fixed expense. The savings percentage is unavailable with zero income.
Emergency fund
Target reserve equals essential monthly expenses multiplied by the coverage months you choose. The remaining amount is divided by the monthly contribution and rounded up to a complete month. Zero contributions cannot complete a positive gap.
Savings goal
Subtract savings already allocated to the goal, then divide the remaining amount by the months. Round up to the next cent. If the target is already reached, no new contribution is needed. No interest is assumed.
Investment return
Profit equals final value plus distributions minus costs and initial capital. Total return is profit divided by initial capital. Equivalent annualisation assumes one initial investment and all other flows at the end; it is not an internal rate of return. Taxes and inflation are excluded. Negative net proceeds have no calculated annualised rate.
Loan
A fixed nominal annual rate is divided by twelve. Equal monthly payments repay principal and interest; amounts are rounded to cents and the last payment is adjusted. Upfront fees are paid separately. This is not an APR calculation or a lender offer.
Early repayment
An extra payment is added to the base monthly payment, reducing the term rather than recalculating a lower instalment. Interest is based on the remaining balance. Early repayment fees and contractual limits are not included.
Mortgage
The financed amount is purchase price minus down payment. Initial resources equal down payment plus purchase costs. Monthly payments assume a fixed nominal rate for the entire term. Enter purchase costs yourself; no national tax or fee is assumed.
Inflation
Future equivalent cost equals the initial amount multiplied by (1 + annual inflation) to the power of years. Divide by the same factor to measure the purchasing power of an unchanged balance. A negative rate models deflation. The basket and rate remain constant.
ETF scenario
The net annual factor is (1 + gross return) × (1 − fund cost). Convert it to an equivalent monthly rate for end-of-month contributions. No real ETF is represented. Brokerage, spreads, taxes, currency effects and tracking differences are excluded.