Skip to content
Scrollchart
📈

Free Animated Finance Diagrams

Personal finance, investing, markets, retirement, tax, insurance. The math of money.

95 live For: Personal-finance writers · Advisors · Fintech content · Investing newsletters

For personal-finance bloggers, investment advisors, and fintech content marketers. Compound interest, mortgage amortization, efficient frontier, FIRE math, yield curves, tax brackets, retirement glide paths. Every diagram is data-shape-correct and replaces fluffy stock-photo charts.

What this is
Free, embeddable, animated diagrams covering finance topics (personal finance, investing, markets, retirement, and more).
Who uses it
Personal-finance writers · Advisors · Fintech content · Investing newsletters
How to embed
Copy one line of HTML per diagram. No signup. No watermark. Works in WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, Substack, plain HTML.
Diagrams in this category
95 live (total in catalog: 95).
License
Free forever. The diagram and editorial explainer text are served from scrollchart.com so they can be updated over time to reflect new research.
URL
scrollchart.com/categories/finance
Highlights

What you will find here

  • Personal: compound interest, FIRE, savings rate, debt snowball
  • Investing: efficient frontier, asset allocation, drawdown
  • Markets: yield curve, recession indicators, sector rotation
  • Retirement: glide paths, withdrawal rates, sequence-of-returns risk
  • Tax brackets and insurance cost curves
Sub-categories

6 topic areas in Finance

Personal finance

Compound interest, FIRE, savings rate, debt snowball, emergency fund.

26 live
Investing

Efficient frontier, allocation, drawdown, dollar-cost averaging.

24 live
Markets

Yield curve, recession indicators, sector rotation, market cycles.

11 live
Retirement

Glide paths, withdrawal rates, SORR, Monte Carlo, longevity risk.

12 live
Tax

Marginal vs effective rates, brackets, tax-loss harvesting.

10 live
Insurance

Premium curves, term vs whole, deductible math, claim probabilities.

12 live
Catalog

Browse Finance diagrams

All categories →

Personal finance 26 live

Compound interest, FIRE, savings rate, debt snowball, emergency fund.

Finance Medium

Compound vs Linear Returns

Compounding pulls dramatically away from simple interest after 10-15 years. Time is the multiplier.
Finance Medium

Savings Rate to Retirement

Save 50% of income, retire in ~17 years. Save 10%, retire in 51. The FIRE table visualized.
Finance Medium

Debt Snowball vs Avalanche

Snowball pays smallest first for psychology. Avalanche pays highest-rate first for math.
Finance Simple

Rule of 72

Years to double = 72 / annual return rate. The mental shortcut.
Finance Simple

Emergency Fund Tiers

Tier 1: 1 month for surprises. Tier 2: 3-6 months for income loss. Tier 3: 12+ for big risks.
Finance Simple

50/30/20 Budget Rule

Needs 50%, wants 30%, savings 20%. The default budget split.
Finance Medium

Credit Utilization Impact on Score

Utilization above 30% drops score sharply. Above 70% is severe.
Finance Simple

Lifetime Earnings Curve

Earnings rise through 40s, peak in early 50s, then taper. Career-stage savings should track.
Finance Medium

Mortgage vs Rent Cost Comparison

Total cost of owning vs renting over 30 years. Includes opportunity cost on the down payment.
Finance Medium

Marginal vs Effective Tax Rate

Marginal rate applies to your last dollar. Effective rate averages across all dollars.
Finance Simple

Inflation and Purchasing Power

At 3% inflation, $100 today is worth $55 in 20 years. Cash silently loses ground.
Finance Medium

Income vs Net Worth Distribution

High income does not always mean high net worth. The two distributions only loosely correlate.
Finance Medium

Dollar-Cost Averaging Mechanic

Buying fixed dollars buys more shares when prices are low. The volatility-smoothing effect.
Finance Simple

HSA Triple Tax Advantage

Pre-tax in, tax-free growth, tax-free out for medical. The only triple-advantaged account.
Finance Simple

Sinking Funds System

Predictable irregular expenses funded monthly. Annual insurance, holidays, car repairs - smoothed.
Finance Simple

Credit Score Factors

Payment history 35%, utilization 30%, length 15%, new credit 10%, mix 10%.
Finance Medium

Social Security Claim Age Comparison

Claim at 62 ($1,400/mo), 67 FRA ($2,000/mo), or 70 ($2,640/mo). Break-even for waiting hits around age 80.
Finance Medium

15-Year vs 30-Year Mortgage

$300k at 6%: 15yr costs $148k interest at $2,532/mo. 30yr costs $382k at $1,896/mo. $234k total difference.
Finance Simple

Mortgage Extra Payment Impact

Extra $200/month on a 30yr mortgage: pays off 7 years early, saves $80k+ in interest.
Finance Medium

Retirement Savings Rate Table

Savings rate determines years to retirement: 10% = 51 years, 25% = 32, 50% = 17, 75% = 7. Income level is irrelevant.
Finance Medium

Mortgage Amortization

Early payments are mostly interest. Late payments mostly principal. 30yr costs $466k in interest vs $166k for 15yr on a $400k loan.
Finance Simple

Compound vs Simple Interest

$10k at 7% for 30 years: compound reaches $76k, simple $31k. A $45k gap from reinvesting returns.
Finance Medium

Debt Avalanche vs Snowball

Avalanche (highest rate first) saves more money. Snowball (smallest balance first) builds momentum. Same 4 debts, different outcome.
Finance Medium

Dollar-Cost Averaging vs Lump Sum

$24k over 12 months vs day-one lump sum. DCA wins in bear and V-shaped markets, lump sum wins in a bull market.
Finance Medium

FIRE Math: 25x Rule

$40k annual expenses = $1M FIRE number. Save 50% of income and reach FI in 17 years.
Finance Medium

Capital Gains: Long-Term vs Short-Term

Short-term gains taxed up to 37%. Long-term at 0/15/20%. On a $50k gain, holding 1+ year saves $3.5k-$8.5k.

Investing 24 live

Efficient frontier, allocation, drawdown, dollar-cost averaging.

Finance Medium

Asset Allocation Glide Path

Stocks-heavy when young, bonds-heavy near retirement. The age-based rebalance.
Finance Rich

Risk-Return Frontier

Higher expected return demands higher volatility. The frontier maps the tradeoff.
Finance Medium

Drawdown Recovery Math

A 50% loss requires a 100% gain to break even. The asymmetry punishes panic.
Finance Medium

Sharpe Ratio Visualised

Excess return per unit of volatility. The risk-adjusted return measure.
Finance Rich

Volatility Drag

Geometric returns lag arithmetic returns. Volatility silently erodes compounding.
Finance Medium

Rebalance Bands

Trigger rebalancing when allocation drifts 5+ percentage points. The threshold approach.
Finance Medium

Portfolio Rebalancing Bands

60/40 drifts to 70/30 in a bull market. Rebalance bands trigger a sell-stocks/buy-bonds trade back to target.
Finance Simple

Index vs Active Performance

After fees, 80%+ of active funds underperform their index over 15 years.
Finance Medium

Fee Impact Over 30 Years

A 1% annual fee shaves ~25% off your retirement balance. The compounding fee drag.
Finance Medium

Investment Fees: True 25-Year Cost

1% fee sounds small: on a $500k portfolio over 25 years it costs $250k+ in lost compounding - not just $5k/year.
Finance Medium

Tax-Loss Harvesting Mechanic

Realize losses to offset gains. Buy a similar (not identical) replacement to stay invested.
Finance Simple

Three-Fund Portfolio

US stocks + international stocks + bonds. The simplest globally-diversified portfolio.
Finance Medium

Expected vs Realized Returns

Long-run averages mask year-to-year chaos. The distribution of annual returns.
Finance Rich

Sequence-of-Returns Risk

Same average return, different order. Bad early years devastate retirement balances.
Finance Medium

Dividend Yield vs Growth

High-yield stocks pay now. Growth stocks compound. The yield-vs-growth tradeoff.
Finance Medium

P/E Ratio Distribution

Market P/E sits between 10-18 most of the time. Extremes signal regime change.
Finance Rich

Factor Investing Components

Value, size, momentum, quality, low-volatility. The five factor premiums.
Finance Medium

Reinvested Dividends Impact

Reinvested dividends contribute the majority of long-term equity returns. The hidden compounding engine.
Finance Medium

IRR vs CAGR: Why Timing of Returns Matters

Same $10k start, same $25k end. Front-loaded cash flows produce a higher IRR than back-loaded. CAGR hides this.
Finance Simple

Compounding Frequency: Diminishing Returns

Annual vs monthly vs daily compounding on $10k at 6%: $17,908 vs $18,194 vs $18,221. Beyond monthly, it barely matters.
Finance Rich

Sequence-of-Returns Risk

Same average 7% return, different order. Lucky retiree ends at $1.5M+. Unlucky runs out at year 18.
Finance Medium

Roth vs Traditional IRA

Roth wins when your tax bracket rises at retirement. Traditional wins when it falls. Same bracket = same outcome.
Finance Medium

Expense Ratio Impact Over 30 Years

0.04% vs 0.5% vs 1.5% expense ratio on $100k: ends at $574k vs $462k vs $304k. The 1.5% fund costs $270k.
Finance Medium

Dividend Reinvestment Impact (DRIP)

$10k in S&P 500 for 30 years: $174k with DRIP vs $107k price-only. Reinvested dividends add 1.6x more wealth.

Retirement 12 live

Glide paths, withdrawal rates, SORR, Monte Carlo, longevity risk.

Finance Rich

The 4% Rule

Withdraw 4% of portfolio in year 1, adjust for inflation thereafter. Survives 30 years in 95% of historical periods.
Finance Rich

Monte Carlo Retirement Simulation

10,000 randomized future paths. Success rate = paths where money lasts 30+ years.
Finance Rich

Sequence-of-Returns Risk in Retirement

Bad markets early in retirement do permanent damage. Late losses are recoverable.
Finance Medium

Longevity Risk Distribution

A 65-year-old couple has a 47% chance one lives to 95. Plan for the long tail.
Finance Medium

Retirement Glide Path

Stocks decrease as retirement approaches, then often rise again post-retirement.
Finance Medium

Bucket Strategy

Cash for 1-2 years, bonds for 3-7, stocks for 8+. Three-bucket sequence-risk defense.
Finance Medium

Social Security Claim Age

Claim at 62 = 70% of benefit. At 70 = 124%. Breakeven versus waiting lands near age 79-82.
Finance Simple

Required Minimum Distributions

RMDs start at 73 and rise as life expectancy declines. The IRS payout schedule.
Finance Medium

Roth Conversion Ladder

Convert traditional to Roth in low-income years. Five-year wait per conversion to access penalty-free.
Finance Medium

Annuity vs Portfolio Withdrawal

Guaranteed income vs upside potential. The longevity-pooling tradeoff.
Finance Simple

Medicare Cost Curve

Premiums + Part D + Medigap. The post-65 health cost stack.
Finance Medium

Pension vs Lump Sum

Annuitize for lifetime income or take the lump sum and invest. The decision math.

Insurance 12 live

Premium curves, term vs whole, deductible math, claim probabilities.

Finance Medium

Term vs Whole Life Insurance

Term: pure protection, cheap. Whole: bundled investment, expensive. The math is rarely close.
Finance Medium

Deductible vs Premium Tradeoff

Higher deductible = lower premium. Total cost depends on claim frequency.
Finance Medium

Insurance Claim Probability

Most policies never claim. A few claim catastrophically. The fat tail justifies coverage.
Finance Simple

Life Insurance Need Curve

Need rises with kids and mortgage, falls as assets grow and dependents leave.
Finance Simple

Umbrella Coverage Tiers

Auto + home + umbrella stack to protect against catastrophic liability.
Finance Medium

Health Insurance Cost Stack

Premium + deductible + copay + coinsurance + OOP max. The five-component cost.
Finance Simple

Disability Insurance Replacement Rate

Long-term disability typically replaces 60% of income. The income-protection gap.
Finance Simple

Pet Insurance ROI Distribution

Most pet owners never break even. The few with major surgeries do, dramatically.
Finance Simple

Flood vs Homeowners Coverage

Standard homeowners excludes flood. The coverage gap that surprises after disasters.
Finance Medium

Long-Term Care Cost Curve

LTC costs rise faster than inflation. The retirement risk most plans ignore.
Finance Medium

Life Insurance: Term vs Whole at Age 35

$500k coverage: term at $30/mo vs whole life at $400/mo. Invest the $370 difference and beat the cash value by 2.5x.
Finance Medium

Health Insurance: Deductible vs Premium Tradeoff

Low-premium HDHP wins below ~$3,500 annual healthcare spend. High-premium PPO wins above it.
FAQ

Common questions about Finance diagrams

Where can I get free animated finance diagrams for my website?

Scrollchart provides a free library of animated finance diagrams covering the most common concepts and frameworks. Each embeds with one line of HTML, no account needed, no watermark. Works in WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, and plain HTML.

How do I embed an animated finance chart in my article?

Find the diagram on Scrollchart, copy the snippet, and paste it into your content. The diagram loads from scrollchart.com and scroll-paints into view. The explainer text renders directly in your page DOM, so it is indexed by search engines.

Is there a free source for embeddable finance diagrams with explanatory text?

Scrollchart includes a tabbed explainer panel with every diagram: a plain-language description, the research behind it, and a how-to-interpret guide. All free to embed with no watermark.

Can I use finance diagrams from Scrollchart on a commercial website?

Yes. All Scrollchart diagrams are free to embed on any website, commercial or otherwise. The embed consent covers the fact that the diagram and its explainer are served from Scrollchart and may be updated over time.

Don't see what you need?

Generate a custom finance diagram from a prompt, or request a new template. Most ship within two weeks.

Try the AI generator Request a diagram