Savings Goal Calculator
Work backwards from a target. Enter your goal, what you have saved today, an expected return, and your deadline — the calculator tells you exactly how much to save each month.
- $100/mo
- 15.6 years
- $250/mo
- 9.1 years
- $500/mo
- 5.4 years
- $1,000/mo
- 3.0 years
- Total you deposit
- $35,911
- Growth covers
- $14,089
- Current savings alone grows to
- $16,470
Estimate only. Assumes a constant annual return compounded monthly with contributions at the end of each month. Actual returns vary, and taxes and fees are not included.
How the required monthly amount is calculated
Most savings calculators go forwards: you tell them what you save, and they tell you where you end up. This one solves the problem in reverse. It starts from your target, subtracts what your current savings will grow into on its own, and then finds the fixed monthly deposit that fills the remaining gap by your deadline. The formula it solves is:
PMT = (FV − P · (1 + r)n) · r / ((1 + r)n − 1)
where FV is your savings goal, P is your current balance, r is the monthly rate (annual rate ÷ 12), and n is the number of months until your deadline. Because every deposit earns compound growth from the month it lands, the required monthly amount is always less than the simple gap divided by the number of months — sometimes much less on longer timelines.
A worked example
Suppose you want $50,000 in 10 years, you already have $10,000 saved, and you expect a 5% annual return compounded monthly. The calculator says you need about $216 per month. Here is why that is enough: your existing $10,000 grows to roughly $16,470 on its own over the decade, and each monthly deposit compounds too. In total you would deposit about $35,911 (the $10,000 you started with plus around $25,911 in monthly contributions), and growth covers the remaining $14,089 or so. Without any return at all, closing the same $40,000 gap would take about $333 per month — the 5% return saves you well over $100 a month.
Ways to hit your goal sooner
- Automate the transfer: schedule the deposit for payday so the goal money never sits in your checking account.
- Park it somewhere that earns: a high-yield savings account or money market fund beats a checking account paying nearly nothing.
- Front-load when you can: windfalls like tax refunds or bonuses shorten the timeline more than the same amount spread over months.
- Revisit the plan yearly: if rates or your income change, rerun the numbers and adjust the monthly amount.
What this calculator does not include
The result assumes a constant return every month, which is realistic for a high-yield savings account but only an approximation for invested money, where returns arrive unevenly. It also ignores taxes on interest, account fees, and inflation — a $50,000 goal ten years from now will not buy what $50,000 buys today. For short-term goals in savings accounts these effects are small; for long-term invested goals, treat the monthly figure as a starting point and pad it if you want a margin of safety.
Frequently asked questions
What rate of return should I assume for a savings goal?+
Match the rate to where the money will actually sit. For goals within a few years, use a high-yield savings account rate, recently around 4 to 5 percent. For goals a decade or more away that you plan to invest, a conservative 5 to 7 percent is a common planning assumption. Using a lower rate than you expect builds in a cushion.
Should short-term savings goals be invested in stocks?+
Generally no. Money needed within about three to five years is usually better kept in a high-yield savings account, money market fund, or CDs, because the stock market can drop sharply right when you need the cash. Investing tends to make sense for goals with longer timelines that can ride out downturns.
What if I cannot afford the required monthly amount?+
You have three levers: extend the deadline, lower the goal, or find a higher return within your risk tolerance. Extending the timeline is usually the most powerful, because it both spreads the deposits over more months and gives compounding more time to work. Try changing the years field above and watch the monthly number fall.
Does it matter when in the month I make my deposit?+
Only slightly. This calculator assumes deposits at the end of each month, which is the standard convention. Depositing at the start of the month instead gives each contribution one extra month of growth, which nudges the outcome in your favor but rarely changes the required amount by more than a few dollars.
Is anything I enter here saved or sent anywhere?+
No. All calculations run entirely in your browser. Your goal, balance, and other inputs are never transmitted to a server or stored.
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