What the Savings Goal Calculator does
This calculator tells you how much to save each month to reach a savings goal by a date - counting what you have already saved and the interest it all earns - or, the other way round, how many months a fixed monthly saving takes to get there. Tick the inflation option and a goal priced in today's money is grown to what it will cost when you need it.
You get the monthly amount or the time in large type, how much of the goal comes from your deposits and how much from interest, a chart of the balance against the target, the months at which you pass 25%, 50% and 75%, and a full month-by-month schedule. The figures are standard time-value-of-money arithmetic run in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Choose the question: how much to save each month, or how long it will take at an amount you can afford.
- Enter the goal, what you have already put aside and either the time you have (years and months) or the monthly saving.
- Enter the interest rate of the account or the return you expect, and how often it compounds. Indian recurring and fixed deposits usually compound quarterly; many savings accounts and online banks quote monthly compounding.
- If the goal is something whose price will rise - a car, school fees, a house deposit - tick the inflation box and enter an inflation rate. The target grows to the date you need the money.
- Read the answer and the milestones, open the schedule to see each month, and copy or download the plan as CSV.
Reading the results
The monthly figure is the level amount that, saved every month and earning the stated rate, lands exactly on the target in the last month. Saving a little more than this gives you a margin for a missed month or a lower rate.
"Interest earned" includes the interest on the money you already had. At the short timescales most goals have, it is a small share of the total - the deposits do the work - which is why the rate matters far less than the monthly amount and the start date.
In "how long" mode the time is rounded up to whole months: the plan shows the first month-end at which the balance is at or above the target. If the goal cannot be reached within 100 years at the amount entered, the calculator says so rather than showing a number.
Worked example: a ₹80,000 laptop in a year
You have ₹10,000 saved and want ₹80,000 in 12 months, in a recurring deposit at 6.5% a year compounded quarterly. The equivalent monthly rate is (1 + 0.065/4)^(1/3) - 1 = 0.53876%, so twelve months grow money by a factor of 1.066602.
The ₹10,000 you have grows to ₹10,666.02, leaving ₹69,333.98 to come from monthly deposits. Each ₹1 saved at the end of every month for 12 months grows to (1.066602 - 1) / 0.0053876 = 12.362, so the monthly saving is 69,333.98 / 12.362 = ₹5,608.62.
Over the year you pay in ₹67,303.41 and earn ₹2,696.59 interest, of which ₹666.02 is interest on the money you started with: 10,000 + 67,303.41 + 2,696.59 = ₹80,000.
Formulas and scoring rules
- Monthly rate from the quoted rate
r = (1 + annual / m)^(m / 12) − 1m = 12 (monthly), 4 (quarterly) or 1 (yearly) compounding.- Inflation-adjusted target
target = goal × (1 + inflation)^(months / 12)- Monthly saving needed (paid at month end)
PMT = (target − current × (1 + r)^n) × r / ((1 + r)^n − 1)Divide by (1 + r) when deposits are made at the start of each month. With r = 0 this is (target − current) / n.- Months needed
n = ln((target × r + PMT) / (current × r + PMT)) / ln(1 + r)Rounded up to a whole month. With inflation the target moves, so the month is found by stepping through the schedule.- Schedule
balance_k = balance_(k−1) × (1 + r) + PMTThe same arithmetic as spreadsheet PMT and NPER; displayed amounts are rounded to the currency unit.
Limitations: what the result does not prove
- Rates are assumed constant. Bank rates change, and investment returns vary from year to year - a projection at an expected return is not a promise of that return.
- Tax on interest, account fees and the effect of withdrawals are not included. In India, for example, interest on recurring deposits is taxable and TDS may apply; in the UK it depends on your personal savings allowance.
- Inflation is one rate you choose. The price of the thing you are saving for can rise faster or slower than general inflation.
- This is a planning aid, not financial advice. For long-term goals such as retirement, the choice of where to save matters more than the arithmetic here.
Privacy: where your data goes
Everything you paste, type or drop is processed in this browser tab. It is not uploaded, logged, stored or sent to analytics. Session recording and tag-manager scripts are switched off on this page.
Standards and sources
- Reserve Bank of India - Financial education for savers
- Investor.gov (US SEC) - Save and invest basics
- Investor.gov (US SEC) - Compound interest calculator
- GOV.UK - Tax on savings interest
Frequently asked questions
How much should I save each month to reach my goal?
Divide what you still need by the number of months for a rough answer, then let interest reduce it slightly. The calculator does it exactly: enter the goal, what you have and the time, and it shows the level monthly amount that lands on the target.
How long will it take to save a certain amount?
Choose "How long it will take", enter the goal, what you have and the amount you can save each month. With no interest it is simply the amount still needed divided by the monthly saving; with interest it is a little sooner.
Does it matter if I save at the start or the end of the month?
A little. Money paid in at the start of the month earns one extra month of interest each time, so the monthly amount needed is lower by a factor of 1 + r. At 6% a year that is about half a percent less.
Should I include inflation in my savings goal?
If the goal is a price that will rise before you buy, yes. A ₹5 lakh goal three years away at 5% inflation is really about ₹5.79 lakh. Tick the inflation box and the target, chart and monthly amount use the grown figure.
What interest rate should I use?
Use the rate of the account you will actually save into, as quoted by the bank, with its compounding frequency. For investments such as mutual funds use a cautious expected return and remember it can be negative in any one year.
Why does the interest earned look so small?
Because over a year or two most of the balance has only been in the account for a few months. Interest grows the longer money stays invested; over short periods, the size and regularity of the deposits decide whether you reach the goal.
Last reviewed by the A2Z.Tools team against the sources listed above.
