Calculate savings goal

Calculate the end-of-month deposit required to reach a target from an existing balance and an assumed annual return.

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ToolSavings Goal Calculator
Input
Output
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Preview

How it works

The opening balance compounds monthly, then the ordinary-annuity future-value equation is rearranged for the deposit that fills the remaining gap. At 0% interest the gap is divided directly across months; the 4% default is an editable scenario, not a guaranteed savings return.

Formula
monthly deposit = remaining target × monthly rate ÷ ((1 + monthly rate)ᵐᵒⁿᵗʰˢ − 1)
  • Deposits are treated as arriving at each month end rather than the beginning.
  • The horizon is rounded to whole months and must contain at least one month.

Worked example

Twenty thousand in five years
Starting from 2,000 at 4% a year
Input
											Target: 20000
Starting amount: 2000
Years: 5
Rate percent: 4
Output
												Monthly deposit: 264.83
Total deposited: 15889.84
Interest earned: 2110.16
Starting grows to: 2441.99
Months: 60

When to use this

House-deposit plans, emergency funds, and education savings schedules combine money already saved with a repeatable monthly transfer.

Edge cases

  • At 0% interest, the remaining target is divided evenly across months without using the annuity denominator.
  • If the starting balance already grows beyond the target, the required monthly deposit is 0 and earned interest is not reported as negative.
  • A horizon shorter than one month is rejected instead of rounding to zero months and dividing by zero.

References