Savings Goal Calculator
Saving for a house down payment, a wedding, or an emergency fund? Enter your target and timeline, and this calculator tells you the monthly contribution needed to get there — after accounting for the growth your existing savings will earn along the way.
How this calculator works
First we project what your current savings alone will grow to, compounded monthly:
FV = current · (1 + r)ⁿ
The gap between that and your goal is what regular deposits must cover. Inverting the future-value-of-an-annuity formula gives the required monthly contribution:
PMT = remaining · r ÷ ((1 + r)ⁿ − 1)
where r is the monthly return (annual ÷ 12) and n is the number of months. If your current savings will already exceed the goal on their own, the required contribution is zero.
Learn more
- The Time Value of Money: Why Starting Early Beats Saving More — Compounding rewards time more than effort. See why a head start can outweigh much larger contributions made later — and what that means for you.
- Emergency Funds 101: How Big Should Yours Be? — Why a cash cushion is the foundation of every financial plan, how to size yours, and where to keep it so it's there when you need it.
- How Much Should You Save? A Practical Framework — From the 50/30/20 rule to retirement targets, a grounded way to set a savings rate you can actually sustain — and where each dollar should go first.
- Your Debt-Free Roadmap: A Step-by-Step Plan — A clear, ordered plan to get out of debt for good — from a starter safety net to choosing a payoff method to staying out once you're free.
- What Is FIRE? A Beginner's Guide to Financial Independence — Financial Independence, Retire Early explained — the savings-rate math, the 25× rule, the variations, and the honest trade-offs behind the movement.
- Budgeting 101: A Simple System That Actually Sticks — Budgets fail when they're complicated. Here's a simple, flexible system — the 50/30/20 framework, how to set it up, and how to keep it going.
- Sinking Funds: How to Stop Big Expenses From Wrecking Your Budget — A sinking fund saves a little each month for known future costs — car repairs, holidays, insurance premiums — so they never become emergencies. How to set them up.
- What Actually Counts as an Emergency? — An emergency fund only works if you protect it. A simple test for what qualifies, what doesn't, and how to replenish the fund after you use it.
- Side Income & Taxes: What Freelancers and Gig Workers Owe — Self-employment income isn't taxed like a paycheck. Quarterly estimates, self-employment tax, deductions, and how to set aside the right amount.
Frequently asked questions
- What return rate should I assume?
- For short timelines, use a conservative figure like a high-yield savings or CD rate, since you can't risk a market dip right before you need the money. Longer goals can justify a higher expected return with more risk.
- Why does a longer timeline lower the monthly amount so much?
- Two reasons: you have more months to spread contributions across, and compounding has more time to do the work for you. Even a year or two extra can meaningfully reduce the monthly burden.
- Does this account for inflation?
- No. If your goal is years away and tied to a real-world cost (like a house), consider setting a slightly higher target to preserve buying power, or use the inflation calculator alongside this one.