Number format: this calculator uses German notation throughout — a comma is the decimal separator and a dot groups thousands. “1.234,56” means one thousand two hundred thirty-four euros and fifty-six cents. The figures come from German tax law, so they are shown the way German authorities write them.
Real return (reale Rendite)
How much purchasing power is left of the closing capital once inflation is taken out.
In plain language
If your money grows two and a half fold in twenty years, can you then buy two and a half times as much? No — because prices have risen in the same time. The real return takes inflation out and says what is left of the growth in purchasing power. It is the only figure that really counts for you as a saver.
In detail
The real value is the nominal value divided by (1 + inflation rate) to the power of the number of years. The relation between nominal and real return follows the Fisher equation, (1 + r_real) = (1 + r_nominal) ÷ (1 + inflation) — not the plain difference between the two rates, which is only an approximation for small values. At 5 % nominal and 2 % inflation the real return is 2,94 %, not 3 %. Over long horizons that deviation becomes noticeable. The calculator shows both figures, because the nominal one is regularly needed to compare offers and the real one to judge your own plan.
Worked example
10.000 € of starting capital at a nominal 5 %, compounded annually over twenty years: the closing capital is 26.532,98 €. At 2 % inflation that corresponds to purchasing power of 17.855,93 € in today's money. Of the nominal growth of 16.532,98 €, some 7.855,93 € is left in real terms — less than half.
In brief
Real value = nominal value ÷ (1 + inflation) to the power of the years. The real return is lower than the nominal one.
Legal basis: Fisher equation · as at 2026