🏦 Savings Calculator

Plan your savings journey — calculate your future balance, track milestones, find out how long to reach a goal, or discover how much to save each month.

Free No Account Goal Planner

Starting amount (can be 0).

Amount added each period.

% / year
💡 Enter your savings goal and we'll calculate how long it will take.
% / year
💡 Enter your goal and timeframe — we'll calculate the monthly savings needed.
% / year

Future Savings Balance

after · compounded

Initial Deposit
starting amount
Total Contributions
added over time
Interest Earned
Eff. Annual Yield
APY

Balance Composition

Initial () Contributions () Interest ()
⏱

Money doubles in

📊

You invested / Interest generated

/

🏁 Savings Milestones

Savings Growth Chart

Balance Contributions Only

💡 What If You Save More?

Same duration and rate, different contribution amounts

Year-by-Year Breakdown
Yr Opening Contributions Interest Closing
Export:

Time to Reach Goal

Start: Goal:

Goal reached in

Goal Amount
target
Total Invested
principal + contributions
Interest Earned
when goal reached

Required Monthly Savings

per month for

Savings Goal
target amount
Total You Save
initial + contributions
Interest Does
interest contribution

📅 What if you save more per month?

🏦

Build Savings

Enter a contribution amount and see your future balance grow

🎯

Goal Planner

Set a target amount and find out how long it takes to reach it

📅

Monthly Target

Tell us your goal and timeframe — get the exact monthly savings needed

🏁

Milestones

See when you'll hit $10K, $50K, $100K and beyond

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Growth Chart

Visual line chart showing your savings journey over time

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What-If

Compare different contribution amounts side by side

💡 Future Value Formula

FV = P(1+r/n)^(nt) + PMT × [(1+r/n)^(nt) − 1] / (r/n)

P = initial deposit · PMT = contribution · r = rate · n = compounds/year · t = years

Three modes, one underlying annuity equation

All three modes rest on the same relationship. A balance is the future value of the initial deposit, P x (1 + i) to the power of N, plus the future value of the contribution stream, PMT x (((1 + i) to the power of N) minus 1) divided by i, where i is the rate for one compounding period and N is the number of periods.

Build Savings evaluates that expression directly. Monthly Target rearranges it to solve for PMT: it subtracts the grown initial deposit from the goal, then divides the shortfall by the annuity factor, giving the payment required. Time to Goal solves for N, which has no clean algebraic form once both a lump sum and a payment stream are present, so the tool steps forward period by period until the balance crosses the target, then reports the crossing point in months and years.

Setting contribution timing to the beginning of each period multiplies the contribution component by an extra (1 + i), since every payment then earns one additional period of interest before the term ends.

Worked example: reaching a house deposit

Open with 1,000, add 500 a month, assume 4 percent annual interest compounded monthly, and run Build Savings over ten years.

The periodic rate is 0.04 / 12, which is 0.0033333, across 120 periods. The growth factor 1.0033333 to the power of 120 comes to 1.490833. The opening deposit therefore becomes 1,000 x 1.490833, or 1,490.83. The monthly payments become 500 x ((1.490833 minus 1) / 0.0033333), which is 500 x 147.25, or 73,624.88.

The closing balance is about 75,116. You paid in 1,000 plus 120 payments of 500, a total of 61,000, so interest accounts for roughly 14,116, close to a fifth of the final pot.

Switch to Monthly Target with the same rate and term but a goal of 100,000 and the same 1,000 opening deposit, and the required payment rises: the shortfall after the deposit grows is 98,509, divided by the annuity factor of 147.25, giving about 669 per month.

Making the projection match reality

Use the rate your account actually pays, not a headline figure. Many savings accounts advertise a bonus rate that drops after twelve months, and a fixed-term bond pays its rate only if you leave the money untouched. If you expect the rate to change, run the calculation in stages and carry the closing balance forward as the next opening deposit.

Remember the result is nominal. At 3 percent inflation, a pot of 75,116 in ten years has the purchasing power of roughly 55,900 today, which matters for goals such as a house deposit where the target price also moves. Interest may be taxable depending on the account and your jurisdiction, and tax reduces the effective rate.

Time to Goal is sensitive to small rate changes over long horizons, so treat the answer as a range rather than a date. Building a cash buffer before locking money into a fixed term avoids early withdrawal penalties. These figures are general information, not financial advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Switch to the Time to Goal mode, enter your target amount, current balance, regular contribution and interest rate, and the calculator steps forward period by period until the balance reaches the goal. It reports the answer in months and years, including the interest that shortens the timeline.
Use the Monthly Target mode. Enter the goal, the timeframe and any amount you already hold, and the tool subtracts the projected growth of that opening balance from the goal, then divides the remaining shortfall by the annuity factor for your rate and term to give the required monthly payment.
No. It projects gross interest before any tax, account fees or inflation. If interest on your account is taxable, reduce the rate you enter by your marginal rate to approximate the net outcome. Tax-sheltered accounts such as ISAs or retirement accounts can usually be modelled at the gross rate.
Most bank savings accounts credit interest monthly or annually, and the terms and conditions state which. If the bank quotes only an annual equivalent rate, choose annual compounding and enter that rate. The difference between monthly and annual compounding on a typical balance is usually a fraction of a percent.
Common causes are a variable rate that has moved, a bonus rate that expired, missed or irregular contributions, interest credited on a date that differs from the assumed schedule, and tax deducted at source. The calculator assumes a constant rate and perfectly regular deposits, which real accounts rarely match exactly.