Compare FD scenarios
Change one input, hold everything else identical, and see how much that one input is actually worth. The gap between the scenarios is the whole answer.
What to compare
Everything else below is held identical across the scenarios, so the only thing separating the lines is this one input.
Shared by every scenario
The rate your bank quotes, per year. Senior-citizen and special-tenure rates are often higher.
In months, the way banks quote it. 5 years is 60.
How often interest is added to the deposit, or paid to you.
Side by side
| Scenario | Interest | Deposit plus interest |
|---|---|---|
| Scenario A | Reinvested (cumulative) | ₹1,41,478 |
| Scenario B | Paid out to you | ₹1,35,000 |
Moving interest from Paid out to you to Reinvested (cumulative) changes deposit plus interest by +₹6,478. Every other input was identical in both.
Show how each scenario is calculatedHide the working
Scenario A — Reinvested (cumulative)
Rate for one compounding period
7% ÷ 4
= 1.75% (0.0175)
Tenure in years
60 months ÷ 12
= 5
Number of compounding periods
4 × 5
= 20
Compound over 20 whole periods
(1 + 0.0175)^20
= 1.414778
Multiply by the deposit
₹1,00,000 × 1.414778
= ₹1,41,478
Scenario B — Paid out to you
Interest for one year
₹1,00,000 × 0.07
= ₹7,000
Each payout
₹7,000 ÷ 4
= ₹1,750
Paid quarterly. It leaves the deposit, so it earns nothing further.
Tenure in years
60 months ÷ 12
= 5
Interest over the tenure
₹7,000 × 5
= ₹35,000
Deposit plus all the interest
₹1,00,000 + ₹35,000
= ₹1,35,000
The deposit comes back at maturity; the interest has already reached you in instalments.
Every scenario is computed by the same engine the deposit plus interest calculator uses, so the last line of each is the figure in the table above. Intermediate values are shown rounded for reading; the calculation carries full precision throughout.
Over time
Each line is one scenario. Because every other input is identical, the gap between them is the effect of interest alone.
How to read this
- Only one input differs. Every other value is identical across the scenarios, which is what makes the gap between them readable. If each scenario had its own assumed return, the chart would be comparing guesses rather than choices.
- A bigger number is not automatically better. On a loan comparison the larger figure is the worse one, and on any of these the right answer depends on circumstances this page knows nothing about.
- The rate is still an assumption. Comparing scenarios does not make any of them a forecast — it only shows how sensitive the outcome is to the input you changed.
To see the arithmetic behind a single scenario, use the FD Calculator, which shows the formula and works it through with your numbers.