Savings Goal Planner

Solves backwards from a target: what to save, or how long to save. Projecting deposits forward is a different question, and a different page.

The goal

Savings goal

Current savings

Years to the goal

Saving plan

Contribution frequency

Contribution timing

End: growth is credited, then the deposit lands. Start: the deposit lands first and earns that period's growth too.

Annual contribution increase

Optional. Year one uses the amount above; each subsequent saving year steps up by this much.

Expected return

Match this to the account you will actually use — short-term goals held in cash earn cash rates. Treated as an effective annual return: the period rate is its exact n-th root, so the contribution frequency never changes the annual return you assumed.

Sensitivity band

Return spread

Horizon spread

Save this much monthly

$608.45

Reaches $50,000 in 5 years from $8,000, at 4.00% a year, with contributions at the end of each period.

Savings goal$50,000

Year one saving$7,301$608.45 × 12 periods

Total contributed$36,50760 contributions

Investment growth$5,49311.0% of the ending balance

Ending balance$49,999.85-$0.15 against target

Solver check. With a level contribution the annuity formula applies, and it gives $608.45 against the solver's $608.45. Re-running the whole schedule at the solved figure lands -$0.15 from the target after 21 bisection steps.

What the projected balance is made of

Savings you already have: $8,000 (16.0%)
Future contributions: $36,507 (73.0%)
Investment growth: $5,493 (11.0%)

Saving at the start of the period versus the end
Timing	Required monthly saving	Total contributed	Growth
End of each period	$608.45	$36,507	$5,493
Start of each period	$606.47	$36,388	$5,612

Depositing at the start of each period buys one extra period of growth every time, so it needs $1.98 less per period and $119 less in total.

Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen to see every column.

Required monthly saving under different assumptions (return ±2 points, horizon ±2 years)
Horizon ↓ / Return →	2% return	4% return	6% return
3 years	$1,120.08	$1,074.98	$1,031.32
5 years (selected)	$653.25	$608.45	$565.50
7 years	$453.32	$409.02	$366.99

Both levers point the same way: a higher return and a longer horizon each lower the amount you have to put in. The horizon does more of the work over short periods, and the return does more over long ones.

Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen to see every column.

What moving the goal date costs, for a $50,000 goal
Years to save	Required monthly saving	Total contributed	Growth does the rest
3	$1,074.98	$38,699	$3,301
5	$608.45	$36,507	$5,493
7	$409.02	$34,358	$7,642
10	$260.12	$31,214	$10,786

Shortening the horizon raises the monthly figure far faster than it lowers the total, because growth has less time to contribute. Nothing here is advice about when to save.

Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen to see every column.

Year by year
Year	Starting balance	Contributions	Growth	Ending balance	Gap to goal
1	$8,000	$7,301	$453	$15,754	$34,246
2	$15,754	$7,301	$763	$23,819	$26,181
3	$23,819	$7,301	$1,086	$32,206	$17,794
4	$32,206	$7,301	$1,421	$40,928	$9,072
5	$40,928	$7,301	$1,770	$50,000	$0

Every headline figure above is a total of these rows. Contributions land at the end of each period, and the goal is tested once both the growth and the contribution for that period have been applied.

Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen to see every column.