Savings Goal Calculator

How it works

This calculator simulates your savings month by month. Each month, your balance grows by one twelfth of the annual return, then your monthly contribution is added, until the balance reaches the goal. Working forward like this handles interest correctly without requiring a formula, and it is why a return shortens the timeline in two ways: your existing savings grow on their own, and every contribution starts earning as soon as it lands. With a zero return, the math reduces to (goal - current savings) / monthly contribution, rounded up to whole months. Small increases in the monthly contribution often beat optimistic return assumptions, because they are fully under your control: raising a contribution from $300 to $400 toward a $20,000 goal cuts the timeline by many months regardless of market performance. The projection assumes a steady return and regular end-of-month contributions, with no withdrawals, taxes or fees. If the answer comes out longer than your deadline, the honest levers are a bigger monthly contribution, a larger starting amount, or a later target date, not a higher hoped-for return.