Savings Goal Calculator

A savings goal becomes achievable the moment it turns into a monthly number. This savings goal calculator works in two directions. In monthly-deposit mode you enter the target amount, the time you have (years or a concrete deadline date), what you have saved already and the annual interest rate — and it returns the deposit you need to make each month. In time-to-goal mode you instead enter the monthly deposit you can afford, and it returns how many months and years the goal will take.

The math is the standard future-value-of-annuity relation: goal = current·(1+i)^n + PMT·((1+i)^n − 1)/i, with the monthly rate i taken as the annual rate divided by 12 and deposits assumed to arrive at the end of each month — the same convention banks use for recurring deposits. Solving for PMT gives the required monthly amount; solving for n with logarithms gives the time to goal. At a 0% rate both collapse to simple division: 12,000 in one year is exactly 1,000 per month.

The result panel shows more than the headline number. In monthly-deposit mode you also see the total you will pay in and how much of the goal the interest covers — often a surprisingly motivating split. In time-to-goal mode you get the projected balance at the finish line, which lands at or just above the goal because months are whole. If the savings you already have will grow past the target on their own, the calculator says so instead of prescribing a pointless deposit.

Everything is computed locally in your browser: no sign-up, no server, any currency. Use it together with our compound interest calculator — this tool tells you what to deposit for a specific goal, while that one shows how a balance and recurring contributions grow over the years.