Savings Goal Calculator

Plan your savings in USD: monthly needed or time to goal

Mode: Monthly needed — we’ll compute the deposit required to hit your deadline.

Savings plan summary
Enter values, choose a mode, then tap Calculate · USD

Enter your goal, current savings, APR, and either a deadline or monthly amount. We’ll estimate the path to your target and show a compact snapshot plus a CSV schedule.

Assumptions: Fixed monthly contributions in USD and a steady annual return (APR) with monthly compounding. Current savings and new deposits grow at the same rate. Contributions are treated as end-of-month deposits. Taxes, account fees, penalties, and inflation are ignored. When APR is 0%, all growth comes from contributions.
Updated: October 9, 2025

Savings goal calculator FAQs

How is the monthly amount calculated?

It uses annuity math with monthly compounding as shown below; at 0% interest it is simply goal minus current, divided by the number of months.

Can I set 0% interest?

Yes. The projection then assumes no growth at all and your progress comes entirely from contributions.

What if my plan is unrealistic?

You’ll see a warning when the required monthly is negative or when the goal cannot be reached with your settings. Try a longer timeline or a higher monthly deposit and re-run the numbers.

Is this financial advice?

No—it’s an educational planner to help you estimate deposits and timelines. Always consider your broader budget and risk tolerance.

Savings goal calculator: quick guide

1. Decide what you want to know

This savings goal calculator has two simple modes. In Monthly needed mode you tell the tool when you want to hit your target, and it works backwards to show the deposit required each month. In Time to goal mode you lock in a fixed monthly amount and the calculator estimates how long it will take to reach your number. Both modes use the same ingredients—goal amount, current balance, and an annual return (APR)—so you can quickly flip between them to see which trade-off feels realistic.

2. Enter your starting point and a realistic APR

Start with the basics: your goal amount in USD and your current savings. If you have several small accounts earmarked for the same goal, you can add them up and enter the combined balance. Next, pick a conservative APR. For short-term goals parked in savings accounts or CDs, values around 0–3% are common. For longer investment-style goals, you might test a band like 4–7% and plan using the lower result. The optional start month field only controls the labels in the schedule so you can align milestones with your calendar.

  • Currency: all inputs and outputs are in USD. If you think in another currency, you can mentally treat the figures as generic “units” and scale your goal.
  • Rate band: APR is clamped between 0–20% to avoid overly optimistic projections.
  • Compounding: the calculator uses monthly compounding, which matches how many savings and investment products accrue returns.

3. Set a deadline or a monthly deposit

In monthly-needed mode, use the years and extra months inputs to describe your timeline. The tool rolls them into a single number of months and shows it next to the result. In time-to-goal mode, you skip the timeline fields and enter a monthly deposit instead. If the math shows that your current savings and growth alone can reach the goal, the calculator will display a gentle warning and a monthly deposit of zero so you do not over-save by accident. If your chosen monthly amount cannot realistically reach the goal at the selected APR, you will be nudged to adjust the plan.

4. Read the summary and snapshot like a dashboard

The main card behaves like a mini dashboard. The large headline value is either the required monthly deposit (monthly-needed mode) or the time to goal in months, often paired with an approximate calendar finish date if you set a start month. Underneath, the summary block lists your goal, current savings, APR, total contributed, total interest, and projected final balance. The snapshot section picks a handful of key months—such as Month 1, Month 6, Month 12, Month 24, a midpoint, and the final month— and shows this month’s contribution and interest along with cumulative totals. That lets you sanity-check the trajectory on mobile without scrolling through a long table. When you want more detail, tap the CSV link to open the full schedule in Sheets or Excel.

5. Stress-test the plan and tweak as life changes

Treat the result as a planning anchor, not a promise. Interest rates change, markets move, and real life can force you to pause deposits for a few months. Use the calculator to explore safer options: try slightly higher expenses, a lower APR, or a smaller but consistent monthly deposit and see how the finish date responds. Automating transfers right after payday makes it easier to stick to the plan, and rounding your deposit up—say from 220 USD to 250 USD—can quietly shave months off the timeline. Occasional windfalls such as bonuses or tax refunds can be modeled by temporarily increasing the monthly amount and checking how much sooner you finish. If the required deposit still feels out of reach, the tool gives you three obvious levers: extend the timeline, lower the goal, or commit to a higher monthly deposit.

How the savings math works

The calculator uses monthly compounding. Let r be APR÷12, n the number of months, PV your current savings, FV the goal, and PMT the monthly deposit. For the monthly-needed mode the formula is PMT = r·(FV − PV·(1+r)^n) / ((1+r)^n − 1); when r=0, it simplifies to PMT = (FV − PV)/n. For the time-to-goal mode with r>0, the months are n = ln((PMT + r·FV)/(PMT + r·PV)) / ln(1+r); at r=0, it becomes n = (FV − PV)/PMT. The tool rounds money to cents and builds a monthly schedule from the chosen plan.