Savings Goal Calculator

A savings goal has three parts — the amount, the date, and the interest you earn along the way — and the calculator solves for the fourth: how much to put aside each month. It also shows how much of the final total comes from your deposits versus interest, which is usually less than people expect over short horizons.

How the monthly amount is worked out

With no interest, the answer is simply goal ÷ months. With interest compounding monthly, the required deposit is PMT = (Goal − P(1+r)^n) × r ÷ [(1+r)^n − 1], where P is what you already have, r is the annual rate ÷ 12, and n is the number of months until the target date. Because most savings accounts pay 3–5%, interest only becomes a meaningful contributor once the horizon passes about three years.

When to use this calculator

Use it for any goal with a date attached: a house deposit, a wedding, a car bought outright, a year of tuition, or the emergency fund you have been meaning to finish. Run it once with your current savings rate to see when you would arrive, then once with the target date fixed to see what the monthly figure has to be. If the required deposit is more than you can manage, the calculator makes the trade-off explicit: a later date, a smaller goal, or a higher-yield account.

Worked example

You want $30,000 for a house deposit in 36 months, have $4,000 saved, and can earn 4.5% in a high-yield savings account. The calculator asks for about $675 a month; your deposits total roughly $24,300 and interest supplies the remaining $1,700 or so. Stretch the same goal to 48 months and the monthly figure falls to about $495. Keep the 36-month date but start from $10,000 instead of $4,000, and $500 a month is enough.