Why does Miravel show less than other savings-plan calculators?

Because other calculators show a nominal sum in the euros of the year you sell, before tax. Most of the difference is inflation: €2.14 million in the year 2058 is only around €1.14 million in today's purchasing power. German fund tax then brings it down to around €930,000 in today's money. So Miravel isn't showing less, it's showing the figure you can actually spend at the end. You can still see the nominal sum with one click.

Is the figure from the free savings-plan calculator correct?

Yes, arithmetically. €1,500 a month over 32 years at 7 percent comes to around €2.14 million. But that sum is before tax and in the euros of the year 2058. In today's purchasing power and after German fund tax, considerably less remains.

How much is left after tax and inflation in today's money?

At 7 percent return and 2 percent inflation, around €930,000 in today's purchasing power. At 2.5 percent inflation, more like €796,000. At 6 percent return, around €775,000. The exact figure depends on your tax rate and your inflation assumption.

Is 7 percent realistic for the MSCI World?

As a long-term average, yes, and on the cautious side. Historically it's been around 9.7 percent a year before costs since 1975. 7 percent is an average across decades, not an annual promise: individual years swing widely, and whole decades can come out flat. Many guides plan with 6 percent.

What is the Vorabpauschale that Miravel deducts?

An annual advance payment toward the later tax that the state levies during the holding period. It isn't an additional tax: whatever you pay in Vorabpauschale gets credited against the flat-rate capital gains tax when you sell.

7% on the MSCI World: does €1,500 a month really turn into two million?

A free savings-plan calculator promises €2.14 million: €1,500 a month, 32 years, 7 percent a year. The number is even correct. It's just stated in 2058 euros, before tax. What's left after German fund tax and in today's money, and what a single percentage point of return makes.

At some point almost everyone types their savings rate into one of these free online calculators. €1,500 a month, 32 years, 7 percent a year. The result: €2,142,617. Over two million. A gain of €1.57 million, 272 percent on what you actually pay in. The obvious reaction: "So I'm going to be a millionaire." The number isn't wrong. It just answers a smaller question than the one you're actually asking.

The figures below are model calculations for a single person with no church tax. Your result depends on your savings rate, your investment horizon, your return, and your tax rate. Miravel calculates it with your own numbers, nominal and in today's money side by side.

The short answer

Yes, the calculator is doing the math correctly: €1,500 a month over 32 years at 7 percent comes to around €2.14 million before tax. But that sum is stated in the euros of the year 2058. In today's purchasing power, that's around €1.14 million before tax. After German fund tax and at 2 percent inflation, around €930,000 remains in today's money, at 2.5 percent inflation more like €800,000. Millionaire on paper: yes. Millionaire in today's money: just short, depending on inflation and return.

Step 1: The number is correct. It's just from 2058.

A savings-plan calculator does exactly one thing: it compounds your euros today at a fixed rate and writes a nominal sum at the end. €1,500 times 384 months is €576,000 that you pay in yourself. The rest, €1.57 million, is compound interest. The result of €2,142,617 is arithmetically correct, we checked it against the Miravel calculator to the euro.

The catch isn't in the math, it's in the unit. The €2.14 million are euros from the year 2058. In today's purchasing power, at 2 percent inflation, that's around €1.14 million, before tax. Around a million of that headline figure is simply the gap between today's money and money in 32 years. €1,500 in the year 2058 buys about as much as €800 does today.

Step 2: The tax the calculator leaves out.

The free calculator shows a figure before tax. In Germany you pay tax on an equity ETF at two points: annually the Vorabpauschale, an advance tax, during the holding period, and on sale the flat-rate capital gains tax (Abgeltungsteuer) of 26.375 percent on the gain, after a 30 percent partial exemption for equity funds. The Vorabpauschale isn't a second tax, it's a prepayment: what you pay during the holding period gets credited back at the time of sale.

Miravel calculates both. After tax, the headline figure shrinks from €2.14 million to €1,753,521, still in the euros of 2058. In today's money, at 2 percent inflation, around €930,000 of that remains. At 2.5 percent inflation, more like €796,000. This is exactly where the million tips over: before tax, the headline figure just clears inflation; the tax pushes it below a million in today's money.

Same contributions, two very different answers

The savings-plan calculator — €1,500/month · 32 years · 7% · before tax
Paid in	€576,000
Growth	+€1,566,617
Total in 2058 (nominal)	€2,142,617
In today's money (before tax)	approx. €1.14 million

Miravel — after tax · in today's money · 2% inflation
Total after tax (2058)	€1,753,521
In today's money (2% inflation)	approx. €930,000
In today's money (2.5% inflation)	approx. €796,000
Millionaire in today's money?	Right at the edge

Step 3: 7 percent is an assumption, not a promise.

7 percent isn't too optimistic. The MSCI World returned around 9.7 percent a year on average from 1975 to 2024, in euros, before costs. Over rolling 15-year periods it averaged around 7.7 percent, and not a single 15-year period was negative. So 7 percent sits below the historical average, that's cautious rather than bold.

Still, it's an average across decades, not a figure you get every single year. Individual years ranged from plus 30 to minus 38 percent. From 2000 to 2009, an investor in world equities earned roughly nothing in real terms, a flat decade is part of the range. Many German guides deliberately plan with 6 percent instead of 7.

At 7% return: after tax €1.75m (2058), around €930,000 in today's money
At 6% return: after tax €1.46m (2058), around €775,000 in today's money
One percentage point of return over 32 years: around €293,000 difference
Weak market (4%) to strong market (10%): after tax roughly €1.0m to €3.1m (2058)
Savings account for comparison (3%): after tax around €843,000 (2058)

approx. €293,000 — Difference in the end result between 7% and 6% return, over 32 years. A single percentage point.

What does this mean for your savings plan?

The calculator isn't wrong, it answers a narrower question: how do nominal euros grow at a fixed rate? The question you're actually asking is bigger. What's left after tax? What will it buy in the year you actually need it? And what happens if the market performs worse than 7 percent? On paper, in the euros of 2058, €1,500 a month makes you comfortably a millionaire. In today's money, after tax, you land right at the edge: around €930,000 at 2 percent inflation, less if inflation runs higher or the return comes in lower.

That's not bad news. Financial independence is realistically achievable with this savings rate. It's just that "a million" is a question of which euros you're counting and which year you're standing in. If you want to see it with your own savings rate, your own return, and your own inflation assumption, nominal and in today's money side by side, you can run the numbers in Miravel.

Why does Miravel show less than other savings-plan calculators?: Because other calculators show a nominal sum in the euros of the year you sell, before tax. Most of the difference is inflation: €2.14 million in the year 2058 is only around €1.14 million in today's purchasing power. German fund tax then brings it down to around €930,000 in today's money. So Miravel isn't showing less, it's showing the figure you can actually spend at the end. You can still see the nominal sum with one click.
Is the figure from the free savings-plan calculator correct?: Yes, arithmetically. €1,500 a month over 32 years at 7 percent comes to around €2.14 million. But that sum is before tax and in the euros of the year 2058. In today's purchasing power and after German fund tax, considerably less remains.
How much is left after tax and inflation in today's money?: At 7 percent return and 2 percent inflation, around €930,000 in today's purchasing power. At 2.5 percent inflation, more like €796,000. At 6 percent return, around €775,000. The exact figure depends on your tax rate and your inflation assumption.
Is 7 percent realistic for the MSCI World?: As a long-term average, yes, and on the cautious side. Historically it's been around 9.7 percent a year before costs since 1975. 7 percent is an average across decades, not an annual promise: individual years swing widely, and whole decades can come out flat. Many guides plan with 6 percent.
What is the Vorabpauschale that Miravel deducts?: An annual advance payment toward the later tax that the state levies during the holding period. It isn't an additional tax: whatever you pay in Vorabpauschale gets credited against the flat-rate capital gains tax when you sell.