How to Use FV Function in Excel (Find Future Value)

Hello friends! Today we learn about the last brother in our financial formulas: the FV() function in Excel!

What is FV? It stand for "Future Value". If you save $100 in the bank every month, FV will tell you exactly how much money you will have in the future! Very good for planning your rich life!

🛠️ How to write FV Function

To use FV, you need 3 things: the interest rate from the bank, how many months you will save, and how much money you save every month.

Formula Syntax:

=FV(rate, nper, pmt, [pv])

• rate: Interest rate from bank (Must divide by 12 for monthly rate!).
• nper: Total number of months you will save. (Example: 5 years = 60 months).
• pmt: The money you put in bank every month. (Must be negative - number because money leave your pocket to go to bank!).
• [pv]: (Optional) Present Value. Money you already have in the bank right now. If no money, just ignore this!

📊 Short & Clear Example

Imagine you want to be rich! You decide to save $100 every month (This is PMT). You plan to save for 10 years (This is NPER). Bank give you 5% interest per year (This is Rate). How much money will you have after 10 years? Let's check!

Formula for Future Value (How much you get):

=FV(B1/12, B2*12, B3)

• Result: $15,528.23
• What it means? It means after 10 years, you will have $15,528.23 in the bank!
• Why divide and multiply by 12? Because you save every month! So yearly rate 5% must divide by 12, and 10 years must multiply by 12 months.

💡 Easy Pro Tips

1. Don't Forget Minus: Your monthly save (pmt) MUST have minus sign (-). If you forget, your future money will show as negative!
2. Start with Money: If you already have $5,000 in bank right now, you can add it to the formula like this: =FV(B1/12, B2*12, B3, -5000). Then you will see even more future money!
3. The Financial Family: FV is brother to PV, PMT, NPER, and RATE. Learn all 5 formulas, and you become a bank master!

📚 Useful Resources

• How to Use PV Function in Excel (Find Present Value)
• How to Use PMT Function in Excel (Calculate Loan Easy)
• How to Use NPER Function in Excel (Calculate Loan Time)