Simulator
Pick an investment, an amount and a term: you'll see year by year what you'd have, Portuguese tax included. You can change the return.
To start with
Every month
Duration
Market return, before fees
6.2%After fees: 6% per year
Learn more
The market return is what the investment would earn with no fees at all. Annual fees are taken from the value each year; purchase fees, with each contribution. The tipping point is the year your money earns more per month on average than you put in.
Fees
Annual fund fees
0.2%Fee per purchase
€0Paid on each purchase: at the start and with each monthly contribution.
Your broker's fees may be added: check them with your broker.
Result: Global equity index fund (ETF)
Tipping point, year 9: from then on, your money earns more each month on average (before tax) than the €200 you put in.
- Total paid in
- €34,000
- Total fees paid
- €532
- Investment value at the end
- €50,403
- Total tax paid
- €4,593
- What you keep at the end
- €45,810
- Net gain
- +€11,810
- An ETF can lose value: you could get back less than you put in.
- Calculated at 28%. A tax cut exists for investments held over 2, 5 or 8 years, but it's not yet clear whether it applies to foreign ETFs.
- If that tax cut applied, you'd get back €46,981.
| Year | Paid in | Value | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €12,400 | €13,065 | €12,879 |
| 2 | €14,800 | €16,315 | €15,890 |
| 3 | €17,200 | €19,759 | €19,042 |
| 4 | €19,600 | €23,410 | €22,343 |
| 5 | €22,000 | €27,279 | €25,801 |
| 6 | €24,400 | €31,381 | €29,427 |
| 7 | €26,800 | €35,730 | €33,229 |
| 8 | €29,200 | €40,339 | €37,220 |
| 9 | €31,600 | €45,224 | €41,410 |
| 10 | €34,000 | €50,403 | €45,810 |
Educational information, not investment advice. The figures are estimates to help you understand, not promises.
How we do the mathsYou keep, after 10 years:€45,810 (+€11,810)
Educational information, not investment advice. The figures are estimates to help you understand, not promises.
How we do the mathsFrequently asked questions
Each year's gains are added to your capital, then earn gains of their own the following year.
At first the effect is small; over the years it grows. The simulator shows it year by year.
There's no right answer. The slider starts from the chosen scenario, based on observed, sourced levels; you can then test your own assumption, and the site shows it's yours.
For Certificados de Aforro, the base rate stays between 0% and 2.5%, as the law sets out.
Source: Portaria n.º 149-A/2023, annex (base rate of Certificados de Aforro)
On a deposit or Certificados de Aforro, the 28% tax is taken each time interest is paid: less is left to keep growing.
On an ETF, tax is only paid when you sell. So with the same return, the net result isn't the same.
Source: Código do IRS, art. 71 and 72 (version of 4 November 2026)
It's a theoretical reference: the same savings, with no tax and no fees at all.
The gap with the other options shows what tax and fees cost.
It's the year when your money earns, on average each month, more than you pay in.
It only exists if you make monthly payments. A dot on the curve marks it.
An ETF and a PPR charge fees every year, and sometimes on each purchase. They trim the return a little, year after year.
The default values are sourced; you can enter your own bank's or broker's.