Savings Goal Calculator
Pick which unknown you want solved: the deposit for a deadline, or the timeline for a deposit you can manage.
$638.10 / month to hit your goal
- Over
- 3 yr
How it works
Deposits and current savings grow at the entered APY. The tool either solves the level contribution that reaches the target in the timeframe, or steps forward month by month until the target is met.
Explain it to a kid
Say you want a $60 video game. If you save $5 every week, you'll have enough in 12 weeks — like filling a jar one scoop at a time until it's full. This calculator does that counting for you, so you know exactly how many weeks until jar day.
Frequently asked questions
How does the calculator solve for the monthly deposit?
Given your current savings, target, timeframe, and APY, it solves the level monthly contribution that grows your balance to exactly the target by the deadline — the same future-value math used across the savings and retirement calculators.
What if I'd rather set a deposit amount than a deadline?
Switch to the 'time to reach goal' mode: enter what you can deposit each month and it steps the balance forward, compounding at your APY, until it crosses the target — reporting how many months that takes.
Does the interest rate matter much for a short-term goal?
Less than for a long-term goal — over a year or two, your own deposits do most of the work. The APY matters more the longer the timeframe, since compounding needs time to meaningfully add up.
Where should short-term savings goals be kept?
Money needed within a few years is generally kept somewhere safe and liquid — a high-yield savings account or CD — rather than invested, since there's little time to recover from a market downturn. See the CD calculator if you're considering locking in a fixed rate.