Savings Goal Calculator
Name the amount and the deadline, and this works out the deposit each period that gets you there — with your starting balance and the interest it earns both counted.
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What this calculator works out
Most savings calculators answer "what will I end up with?" This one answers the more useful planning question: what does it take? Give it the target, the deadline, what you already have, and the APY, and it returns the deposit per period that lands exactly on the goal — then plays the plan forward year by year so you can see the path.
It works for any target with a date: a house down payment, a wedding, a car bought outright, next year's property tax, a sabbatical.
How the answer is found
Two things fund a goal besides your deposits: the growth of what you already have, and the interest each deposit earns between now and the deadline. The calculator projects your starting balance forward on its own, subtracts that from the goal, and divides what remains by the annuity factor — what one dollar deposited every period accumulates to by the end:
deposit = (goal − start × (1 + i)n) / annuity factor
If your starting balance alone grows past the target, the answer is simply zero, and the calculator says so.
A worked example
Goal: $20,000 in three years, starting from $2,500, at 4% APY, saving monthly. The starting balance grows to about $2,812 on its own, leaving $17,188 for the deposits. Spread over 36 months with interest helping, that needs about $451 a month.
Without the head start, the figure would be about $524. Without any interest, $486 against the remaining gap. The differences are real but modest over three years — which is the honest lesson: over short horizons, the deposit does almost all the work, and the account choice matters less than starting.
When the number is too big
Sometimes the required deposit simply does not fit the budget. The levers, in order of effect: extend the deadline (the strongest, because it adds deposits and compounding time), trim the goal, or find yield. Rerun the calculation with a year added and watch how much the deposit falls — usually far more than any realistic rate improvement achieves.
What rarely works is planning to "catch up later." A goal funded evenly from today is cheaper per month than the same goal started in a year, every time.
What this does not cover
- Rate changes. The APY is held constant; real savings rates float.
- Tax on interest. Interest is taxable as earned, so the true requirement is very slightly higher than shown.
- Inflation in the goal itself. A goal priced years out — tuition, a build — will likely cost more by the deadline than it does today. Consider setting the target at the future price.
See our methodology for how these tools are built and tested.
Frequently asked questions
Should the goal be in today's dollars or future dollars?
Future dollars, if the thing you are buying inflates. A $20,000 renovation quoted today will not cost $20,000 in four years. Estimate the future price and make that the target.
For a fixed nominal amount — paying off a known loan balance, say — today's figure is already correct.
What account should the money sit in?
The general pattern: goals within a couple of years suit savings accounts and CDs, where the amount on the date is certain. Distant goals can consider investments, accepting that the balance on the deadline is no longer guaranteed. The deciding question is what happens if the money is short on the day.
That is a pattern, not advice — the right choice depends on how movable your deadline is.
Why does saving weekly need slightly less in total than monthly?
Each weekly deposit starts earning a little sooner than the monthly lump it replaces. At savings rates the advantage is small — dollars, not hundreds — so pick the schedule that matches how you are paid and will actually stick.
What if I can't manage the required deposit?
Change an input rather than abandoning the plan. Adding time cuts the requirement fastest; trimming the target helps linearly; chasing yield helps least over short horizons. Even depositing what you can manage builds part of the goal — rerun the numbers when your situation improves.
Does this account for taxes on the interest?
No. Interest earned along the way is taxable in the year it is credited, and the calculator does not deduct it. Over typical goal horizons the effect on the required deposit is small, but the true figure is slightly higher than shown.
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This calculator is provided for general educational and estimation purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice. Savings rates change over time, and a plan built on a constant APY should be revisited when rates move. Confirm current rates with your bank.