Compare RD 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 same amount, deposited at the start of every month.
The rate your bank quotes, per year. Interest is compounded quarterly.
Side by side
| Scenario | Tenure | Maturity value |
|---|---|---|
| Scenario A | 30 months | ₹1,64,272 |
| Scenario B | 60 months | ₹3,59,664 |
| Scenario C | 90 months | ₹5,92,072 |
Moving tenure from 30 months to 90 months changes maturity value by +₹4,27,800. Every other input was identical in both.
Show how each scenario is calculatedHide the working
Scenario A — 30 months
Quarterly rate
7 ÷ 400
= 0.0175
The annual rate in percent, divided by 4 quarters and by 100.
Quarters in the tenure
30 months ÷ 3
= 10
Growth over the tenure
(1 + 0.0175)^10
= 1.189444
The monthly adjustment
1 − (1 + 0.0175)^(−1/3)
= 0.00576619
Instalments arrive monthly but interest compounds quarterly; a month is a third of a quarter.
Maturity value
₹5,000 × (1.189444 − 1) ÷ 0.00576619
= ₹1,64,272
Scenario B — 60 months
Quarterly rate
7 ÷ 400
= 0.0175
The annual rate in percent, divided by 4 quarters and by 100.
Quarters in the tenure
60 months ÷ 3
= 20
Growth over the tenure
(1 + 0.0175)^20
= 1.414778
The monthly adjustment
1 − (1 + 0.0175)^(−1/3)
= 0.00576619
Instalments arrive monthly but interest compounds quarterly; a month is a third of a quarter.
Maturity value
₹5,000 × (1.414778 − 1) ÷ 0.00576619
= ₹3,59,664
Scenario C — 90 months
Quarterly rate
7 ÷ 400
= 0.0175
The annual rate in percent, divided by 4 quarters and by 100.
Quarters in the tenure
90 months ÷ 3
= 30
Growth over the tenure
(1 + 0.0175)^30
= 1.6828
The monthly adjustment
1 − (1 + 0.0175)^(−1/3)
= 0.00576619
Instalments arrive monthly but interest compounds quarterly; a month is a third of a quarter.
Maturity value
₹5,000 × (1.6828 − 1) ÷ 0.00576619
= ₹5,92,072
Every scenario is computed by the same engine the maturity value 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 tenure 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 RD Calculator, which shows the formula and works it through with your numbers.