What this page works out
The one question people usually open four calculators for: there is a sum - where should it go. Here every option stands side by side on equal terms: the same amount, the same term, the same inflation. They differ in three things only - the rate, how often interest compounds, and when the state takes its tax.
- Hryvnia deposit - interest joins the principal every month, and the bank withholds the 23 % (income tax plus the military levy) from each accrual, so what keeps working is already the net sum.
- Government bonds - interest on them is not taxed at all (art. 165.1.2 of the Tax Code).
- Index fund - compounds once a year, and the 23 % is charged once, on the profit when you sell.
- Currency deposit - the same as a hryvnia deposit but at the currency rate, assuming the exchange rate does not move.
- Cash at home - a zero rate. The row is not a joke: it is the baseline everything else is measured against.
What each field means
- Amount and term - the same for every option, otherwise the comparison means nothing.
- Inflation - the NBU's year-on-year figure is filled in, but this is the field worth changing: it is what turns "at the end" into "in today's money".
- The four rates - typical market values. Replace them with your own: a bank almost never offers the average, and your broker quotes the yield of the particular bond issue.
- Expected depreciation - what turns the dollar options into hryvnia ones. A fund's return and a currency deposit's rate are quoted in dollars, and while this field is zero the calculation assumes the exchange rate stays put. Put your own forecast in and both rows are recalculated.
An example: 100 000 ₴ over 5 years at 10 % inflation
| Option | Rate | Tax over the term | At the end | In today's money | Real rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Government bonds | 15.16 % | 0 ₴ | 202 538.82 ₴ | 125 760.67 ₴ | 4.69 % |
| Hryvnia deposit | 12.63 % | 25 120.29 ₴ | 162 303.07 ₴ | 100 777.43 ₴ | 0.16 % |
| Index fund | 8 % | 10 794.54 ₴ | 136 138.26 ₴ | 84 531.14 ₴ | −3.31 % |
| Currency deposit | 1.07 % | 1 289.12 ₴ | 104 204.05 ₴ | 64 702.51 ₴ | −8.34 % |
| Cash at home | 0 % | 0 ₴ | 100 000 ₴ | 62 092.13 ₴ | −9.09 % |
The column all of this is for is the second to last. A deposit at the average rate barely holds purchasing power: 162 303.07 ₴ in five years is about 100 777 ₴ of today's money. And 100 000 ₴ in a drawer becomes 62 092 ₴ in today's money - nothing lost in nominal terms and 37 908 ₴ lost in real ones.
Why bonds lead, and what is wrong with that
The gap between bonds and the deposit in the example is 40 235.75 ₴, and most of it is not the rate but the tax: over five years the state takes 25 120.29 ₴ out of the deposit and nothing out of the bonds.
Equal terms in a calculation are not equal risk, though:
- A deposit up to 600 000 ₴ is covered by the Deposit Guarantee Fund, and in full during martial law and for three months after it.
- Bonds are guaranteed by the state - the same issuer that grants the tax exemption. The paper also has to be bought, through a bank, the Diia app or a broker, and the purchase fee eats part of the yield, especially on short maturities.
- A fund guarantees nothing at all: 8 % is an expectation, not a rate, and any given year can be negative. Fund returns are quoted in dollars, and the depreciation field is what turns them into hryvnias.
- A currency deposit is a 1 % rate multiplied by a bet on the exchange rate. While that field is zero the option looks like the worst of those that earn anything; put a forecast in and the picture changes.
What the exchange rate changes
The dollar rows are counted in hryvnias, so the "expected depreciation" field decides everything:
| Depreciation | Fund in hryvnias | Fund's real rate | Currency deposit in hryvnias | Its real rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 % | 8 % | −3.31 % | 1.07 % | −8.34 % |
| 5 % a year | 13.4 % | 0.78 % | 6.12 % | −3.76 % |
| 10 % a year | 18.8 % | 4.97 % | 11.18 % | 0.83 % |
(the calculator's table shows this as "8 % → 13.4 %" - the rate in dollars on the left and the same rate in hryvnias on the right; the real rate is after tax and inflation)
At 5 % a year the fund outruns prices for the first time; at 10 % it catches up with government bonds. The currency deposit needs those same 10 % just to pass the hryvnia deposit and its 0.16 %.
On a deposit the exchange gain is not taxed - it is a revaluation of your own money, not income. A fund's profit, though, is counted in hryvnias, so depreciation raises the tax too: at 5 % a year it grows from 10 794.54 ₴ to 20 131.35 ₴.
How it is counted
The deposit here runs in equal months rather than the actual days of its own page: over five years the two approaches differ by 23 kopiykas, which changes nothing about the order of the options. The value in today's money is the final sum divided by (1 + inflation) to the power of the years; the real rate is the after-tax annual return cleared of inflation by Fisher's formula, not by plain subtraction.
For the full picture - a payment schedule, top-ups and taxes - go to the dedicated calculator; the buttons under the table lead straight there.