Savings Goal Calculator

Set a target, plug in your current savings and monthly deposit, and see the exact date you'll hit your goal.

Why the interest rate matters more than it looks

On short savings horizons, interest seems like a rounding error — $20,000 at 4% APY earns only about $800 in the first year. But the effect compounds monthly and accelerates: by the final year of a multi-year plan, interest income is materially accelerating your arrival date. The bigger difference is account choice: a 4% APY high-yield account versus a 0.1% big-bank account changes a five-year $20,000 plan by roughly a full year of contributions. Money parked for a goal should never sit in a near-zero account.

The simulation behind this calculator is simple and exact: each month the balance earns one-twelfth of the APY, then your deposit is added, repeated until the goal is crossed.

Choosing a goal size and a deadline

• Emergency fund: 3–6 months of essential expenses. This comes before any investing goal — it's what keeps a job loss from becoming credit card debt.
• Short-term purchases (car, wedding, home down payment under ~5 years): savings accounts and CDs, not stocks — the market can be down precisely when you need the money.
• Long-term goals (5+ years): consider whether invested contributions (see the compound interest calculator) fit better than savings accounts.

If the calculated timeline feels too long, there are only two honest levers: raise the monthly contribution or lower the target. Adjusting both slightly usually beats heroic changes to either one.

Frequently asked questions