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A savings goal calculator answers two questions: how much to save per month to hit a target by a set date, or how long your current monthly savings will take to get there. Starting from $5,000 and aiming for $50,000 in 5 years at a 4.00% annual return, you need to save $662.08 per month. You will contribute $44,725 in total and earn $5,275 in growth from returns. Enter your own goal, current savings, timeline, and rate above to see your number.
Required Monthly Contribution
$662.08/mo
To reach $50,000 in 5 years at 4.00% from $5,000.
Total Contributed
$44,725
Current savings plus every monthly contribution
Growth from Returns
$5,275
Interest earned on the growing balance
Final Amount
$50,000
Projected balance at the end of the term
The annual return is an assumption, not a guarantee. Investment returns vary from year to year and can be negative. Savings-account APYs change over time. Use the calculator to plan; revisit your inputs as rates and your situation change.
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A savings goal calculator takes four inputs: a target dollar amount, what you have saved today, a monthly contribution or a time horizon, and an assumed annual return. It then answers one of two questions. Pick "How much per month" and the calculator solves for the level monthly contribution that hits the goal exactly by the end of the term. Pick "How long will it take" and it solves for the number of months until the growing balance first reaches the goal, then converts that into years and months and names the calendar month and year you would cross the finish line.
Both tabs share the same engine and the same monthly compounding, so the answers are consistent with each other. Switch tabs and your goal, current savings, and rate carry over, so you can test a monthly amount and a timeline back to back without re-entering the shared inputs. Every result also shows total contributed, growth from returns, and final amount, so you can see how much of the goal comes from saving versus compounding.
Both tabs use the standard future-value formula with monthly compounding. Let i be the monthly rate (annual rate divided by 12) and n be the number of months. The balance after n months, starting from current savings and adding a level monthly contribution M, is FV = current × (1+i)n+ M × ((1+i)n − 1) ÷ i. The first term is your starting savings grown forward; the second is the future value of the stream of monthly contributions (an ordinary annuity).
The two tabs solve this same equation in different directions. The "How much per month" tab fixes n (your years to goal times 12) and solves for M: M = (goal − current × (1+i)n) × i ÷ ((1+i)n − 1). The "How long will it take" tab fixes M and solves for n: n = ln((goal + M÷i) ÷ (current + M÷i)) ÷ ln(1+i), then rounded up to the next whole month so the balance actually reaches the goal. When the rate is zero, both directions degenerate to plain arithmetic: M = (goal − current) ÷ n, or n = (goal − current) ÷ M, with no divide-by-zero.
Worked Example: $50,000 Goal from $5,000 in 5 Years at 4.00%
Monthly rate i = 0.04 ÷ 12 = 0.003333. Number of months n = 5 × 12 = 60. (1+i)n≈ 1.2210. Current savings grown forward = $5,000 × 1.2210 = $6,105. Gap to goal = $50,000 − $6,105 = $43,895. Annuity factor ((1+i)n− 1) ÷ i ≈ 66.30. Required monthly = gap ÷ factor = $662.08. Total contributed = $5,000 + $662.08× 60 = $44,725. Growth from returns = $5,275. Final amount = $50,000. Every figure matches the calculator above.
The "How long will it take" tab answers this directly. Starting from $0 and earning a 7.00% annual return (a common long-term assumption for a diversified portfolio, and an assumption, not a guarantee), the calculator produces the following timelines for three monthly contribution levels. Each row shows how many months it takes, expressed in years and months, plus the total you actually contributed and the dollar amount of growth that got you the rest of the way.
Time to $1,000,000 from $0 at 7.00% Annual Return
| Monthly Contribution | Time to Goal | Total Contributed | Growth from Returns |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500 | 36 yr 5 mo | $218,500 | $784,530 |
| $1,000 | 27 yr 7 mo | $331,000 | $673,002 |
| $2,000 | 19 yr 7 mo | $470,000 | $532,163 |
Growth from returns is the difference between the final balance (just over $1,000,000 in each row) and the total contributed. Doubling the contribution from $500 to $1,000 cuts the timeline from 36 years and 5 months to 27 years and 7 months. That is not in half, because more of the work is done by contributions and less by compounding.
A 7.00% return is a long-term assumption for a growth-oriented portfolio, not a promise. Real returns swing every year and can be negative. The point of the table is the shape of the relationship between contributions and time, not a forecast of what you will actually earn. Run your own numbers in the calculator above with a rate that matches where your money will actually live.
The "How much per month" tab flips the question: instead of asking how long a fixed contribution takes, it asks what level monthly contribution hits the goal in a fixed term. The closed-form answer is M = (goal − current × (1+i)n) × i ÷ ((1+i)n− 1), with i equal to the annual rate divided by 12 and n equal to the term in months. The shorter the runway, the larger the required monthly amount, because there is less time for compounding to do the work.
Two illustrations from the same engine, both starting from $0 and targeting $1,000,000 at a 7.00% annual return. With 30 years to go, the required monthly contribution is $819.69, with total contributed $295,089 and growth from returns $704,911. Compress the runway to 20 years and the required monthly jumps to $1,919.66, with total contributed $460,717 and growth from returns $539,283. Cutting the term by a third more than doubles the required monthly contribution, because you lose both the years of contributions and the years of compounding on the earlier contributions.
The table below shows the required monthly contribution to reach $1,000,000 from $0 at a 7.00% annual return across four time horizons, all computed by the same engine that powers the calculator above. The pattern is what matters: every extra decade you give yourself roughly halves the required monthly contribution, because compounding has more time to work.
Monthly Contribution to Reach $1,000,000 from $0 at 7.00%
| Time Horizon | Required Monthly | Total Contributed | Growth from Returns |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 years | $5,777.51 | $693,302 | $306,698 |
| 20 years | $1,919.66 | $460,717 | $539,283 |
| 30 years | $819.69 | $295,089 | $704,911 |
| 40 years | $380.98 | $182,870 | $817,130 |
Growth from returns is final amount ($1,000,000 in every row) minus total contributed. At 40 years, more than 80% of the final balance comes from returns; at 10 years, less than a third does.
The general formula for the required monthly contribution is M = (goal − current × (1+i)n) × i ÷ ((1+i)n − 1), with i equal to your assumed annual return divided by 12 and n equal to the number of months until the goal. If your current savings grown forward at the assumed rate already exceeds the goal, the formula returns zero (or a negative number that the calculator clamps to zero). If the rate is zero, the formula simplifies to M = (goal − current) ÷ n.
Picking a rate assumption is the most consequential input. Money in a high-yield savings account or a certificate of deposit earns a stated APY that you can read off the bank's rate sheet. In a high-rate environment that might be around 4 to 5 percent, and it can fall quickly when the Federal Reserve cuts rates. Money in a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds does not have a stated rate; long-term historical averages are often modeled around 5 to 7 percent real, but actual yearly returns swing widely and can be negative. For must-hit goals with a short horizon (a down payment you need in two years), use the rate a savings account or CD actually pays, because investment volatility could leave you short. For long-horizon goals (retirement decades away), a growth-oriented assumption is reasonable, but understand it is an assumption, not a forecast.
Whichever rate you choose, treat the output as a plan, not a prediction. The calculator uses future value, compound growth, monthly contribution, time horizon, and rate of return as the working vocabulary; the target date in the "How long will it take" tab is the month and year the balance first crosses your goal, assuming your inputs hold exactly. Real life will not match the assumption line for line, so revisit your inputs whenever your rate, your contributions, or your goal changes.
Browse all tools on the Savings Calculators hub. If you are weighing whether to break a CD to free up cash for your goal, the CD Early Withdrawal Penalty Calculator shows the penalty in dollars, your net proceeds, and whether breaking the CD beats keeping it to maturity. To see whether your savings put you ahead of or behind the typical household your age, the Net Worth by Age Calculator compares your number to the median and average for your age bracket from the Federal Reserve's 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances.