Savings goal calculator
FinanceNo. 60 / 84
Set a goal, your current balance, a deadline and a return, then see the monthly amount it takes with interest included.
a goal without a monthly number is just a wish with a deadline.
work surface
Math, not advice — results are indicative.Read the disclaimer.
most-used utilities
House deposit
A deposit with a five-year runway and a return you can defend out loud.
Emergency fund
Three months of expenses, saved before the boiler makes its case.
Year off
Twelve months without a salary, funded one ordinary month at a time.
pro tips
Automate the transfer for the day after payday. Money that never sits in the current account is money that never gets spent on a lamp.
An extra 50 a month early beats a heroic lump sum in year four. Compounding rewards the boring schedule, not the dramatic gesture.
Round the monthly figure up to something you can say out loud without flinching. The goal date will not mind the small surplus.
what it does
This one works backwards from the number you want. Enter the goal, what you already have, how many years you can wait and the return you expect, and it returns the monthly contribution that gets you there. Everything recalculates as you type, including the moment you reconsider the deadline.
The same math covers a house deposit, a replacement car, a year off, a wedding, tuition or the emergency fund you keep meaning to start. Change one input and watch the monthly figure move: more years means less per month, and a healthier return means less of your own money. There is no free lunch, but the lunch gets cheaper.
Say the goal is $20,000, you have $2,000 saved, the horizon is five years and the expected return is 5% a year. The widget asks for about $256 a month. You contribute $17,381 of your own money over the run, growth adds roughly $2,619, and the balance arrives at the goal with a few cents to spare.
Compounding happens monthly and each contribution lands at the end of the month, so a 5% annual return becomes a monthly rate rather than one large yearly jump. At 0% the widget splits the gap evenly across the months. The return is an assumption, not a promise; markets have opinions, and this box cannot hear them.
quick answers
How is the monthly contribution calculated?
The widget grows your current balance at the monthly rate, then divides the remaining gap by the future value of a series of monthly deposits. It is the same math a spreadsheet would use, with fewer broken formulas.
What happens with a 0% return?
The gap is split evenly across the months and interest stays at zero. That fits a plain savings account, or a plan built on pessimism rather than hope.
What if I already have more than my goal?
The monthly figure drops to zero and the widget says so plainly. The interest shown is what your current balance earns by the deadline, which is a pleasant problem to have.