Savings Goal Calculator
Find the monthly deposit that hits your savings target on time given what you have and the interest you'll earn — and how long a different amount would take.
Savings Goal Calculator: with the default inputs, required monthly deposit is $662.08.
High-yield savings: ~4%. A diversified stock fund has averaged ~7% after inflation, with big swings.
Compare a round number you'd actually stick to.
- Total you'll deposit
- $39,725
- Interest and growth
- $5,275Goal minus what you already had minus your deposits.
- Existing savings grow to
- $6,105
- Balance at the deadline saving the alternative amount
- $39,254
- Time to goal at the alternative amount
- 6 years, 5 months
Assumptions
- Deposits are made at the end of each month and the return compounds monthly.
- The return is constant; no taxes or fees are deducted.
How this is worked out
The formula
PMT = (Goal − Current × (1 + i)^n) × i ÷ [ (1 + i)^n − 1 ] i = annual return ÷ 12, n = months to the deadline Deposits are made at the end of each month
Open How it’s calculated above to see this worked through with your own numbers.
What you enter
- Savings goal
- A number.in dollars · 0 or more · defaults to 50000
- Already saved
- A number.in dollars · 0 or more · defaults to 5000
- Time to reach it
- A number.from 0.1 to 100 · defaults to 5
- Expected annual return
- High-yield savings: ~4%. A diversified stock fund has averaged ~7% after inflation, with big swings.a percentage · from 0 to 50 · defaults to 4
- What if I save this much per month instead?
- Compare a round number you'd actually stick to.in dollars · 0 or more · defaults to 500
What you get back
- Required monthly depositmain answer
- Total you'll deposit
- Interest and growth
- Goal minus what you already had minus your deposits.
- Existing savings grow to
- Balance at the deadline saving the alternative amount
- Time to goal at the alternative amount
What this assumes
- Deposits are made at the end of each month and the return compounds monthly.
- The return is constant; no taxes or fees are deducted.
About this calculator
A savings goal is a future-value problem run backwards: you know the target and the date, and you want the deposit. The answer depends on three things — how much you already have, how long you've got, and what the money earns while it waits. Time is the lever that matters most: the same $50,000 needs about $760 a month over five years but only $340 a month over ten.
How to use it
Type the goal, what you've saved so far, the deadline in years and a realistic return. For anything you'll need within five years — a house deposit, a car, an emergency fund — use a high-yield savings or money-market rate, not a stock-market average; you can't afford a bad year right before you need the cash. Then put the round number you'd actually save in the "what if" field to see where that lands you and how long it would take.
Solve for handles other angles: "if I can only do $400 a month, how many years?" or "what return would I need?" (if the answer is over 8%, the plan is really a hope).
Reading the results
- Required monthly deposit is the level end-of-month amount that lands exactly on the goal.
- Total you'll deposit vs interest and growth shows how much of the goal comes from your pocket. Over short horizons at savings-account rates it's almost all you; interest becomes meaningful only past five to ten years.
- Existing savings grow to isolates what your head start does on its own.
- The alternative-amount lines tell you the trade you're really making: a smaller deposit costs months, not the goal.
Practical notes
Automate the transfer the day after payday; goals that depend on "whatever's left" rarely get funded. Keep the money somewhere you won't casually spend it but can reach without penalty — a CD ladder works for dated goals, a savings account for an emergency fund. If your employer offers a savings match or you can use a tax-advantaged account (an HSA for medical costs, a 529 for tuition), the effective return jumps well above any savings rate.
Interest earned in a taxable account is taxable each year, so your after-tax return is a bit lower than the rate you enter.
Frequently asked questions
▸How much do I need to save each month to reach $10,000 in a year?
About $833 with no interest, or roughly $817 a month at 4% in a high-yield savings account. Interest barely helps over one year; it's the deposits that do it.
▸Should I count investment returns for a short-term goal?
Not for anything under about five years. Stocks fall 20% or more every few years, and a drop right before your deadline can't be waited out. Use a savings-account rate for near-term goals.
▸Does it matter if I deposit at the start or end of the month?
Slightly. Depositing at the start gives each deposit one extra month of interest, which lowers the required amount by a fraction of a percent. The calculator assumes end-of-month deposits.
▸What if I can't afford the required amount?
Either push the date out, lower the target, or start with a smaller amount and raise it when income rises. The alternative-amount outputs show exactly how much longer a smaller deposit takes.
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