25% goal reached
$6,250.00October 2026
2 months from Start month.
Long-term savings planning tool
Savings Goal Calculator
Test whether your current plan reaches a goal, estimate the monthly amount required, and inspect how contributions, growth, fees, inflation, and one-time deposits shape the result.
Default savings goal results are displayed.
Plan status
On track
The submitted plan reaches the working goal by September 2028.
Emergency fund results
Calculated from the last successfully submitted values.
Projected savings at target datei
$25,431.33
Goal amounti
$25,000.00
Inflation adjustment is off.
Projected surplusi
$431.33
Required monthly contributioni
$733.78
Current monthly contributioni
$750.00
Estimated goal datei
September 2028
Time to goali
2 years, 1 month
Total personal contributionsi
$19,065.68
Total interest earnedi
$1,365.65
Total fees paidi
$0.00
Investment growth sharei
5.37%
Target horizoni
2 years
25 monthly schedule rows include both selected boundary months.
Plan adjustment summary
A comparison of the submitted plan and the modeled amount required. It is a planning estimate, not a recommendation.
- Current monthly contributioni
- $750.00
- Required monthly contributioni
- $733.78
- Monthly adjustment neededi
- $0 additional monthly savings needed
- First-year contributioni
- $750.00
- Final-year monthly contributioni
- $795.68
- Projected amount without interesti
- $24,065.68
- Growth added by interesti
- $1,365.65
- Fees subtractedi
- $0.00
- Additional contributions totali
- $0.00
- Projected surplusi
- $431.33
Goal milestones
50% goal reached
$12,500.00June 2027
10 months from Start month.
75% goal reached
$18,750.00February 2028
18 months from Start month.
100% goal reached
$25,000.00September 2028
25 months from Start month.
Monthly savings schedule
Rows use the submitted snapshot. Expand months with named additional contributions for their itemized amounts.
| Month | Beginning balance | Regular contribution | Additional | Interest | Fee | Ending balance | Goal progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | $5,000.00 | $750.00 | $0.00 | $18.75 | $0.00 | $5,768.75 | 23.08% |
| October 2026 | $5,768.75 | $750.00 | $0.00 | $21.63 | $0.00 | $6,540.38 | 26.16% |
| November 2026 | $6,540.38 | $750.00 | $0.00 | $24.53 | $0.00 | $7,314.91 | 29.26% |
| December 2026 | $7,314.91 | $750.00 | $0.00 | $27.43 | $0.00 | $8,092.34 | 32.37% |
| January 2027 | $8,092.34 | $750.00 | $0.00 | $30.35 | $0.00 | $8,872.69 | 35.49% |
| February 2027 | $8,872.69 | $750.00 | $0.00 | $33.27 | $0.00 | $9,655.96 | 38.62% |
| March 2027 | $9,655.96 | $750.00 | $0.00 | $36.21 | $0.00 | $10,442.17 | 41.77% |
| April 2027 | $10,442.17 | $750.00 | $0.00 | $39.16 | $0.00 | $11,231.33 | 44.93% |
| May 2027 | $11,231.33 | $750.00 | $0.00 | $42.12 | $0.00 | $12,023.44 | 48.09% |
| June 2027 | $12,023.44 | $750.00 | $0.00 | $45.09 | $0.00 | $12,818.53 | 51.27% |
| July 2027 | $12,818.53 | $750.00 | $0.00 | $48.07 | $0.00 | $13,616.60 | 54.47% |
| August 2027 | $13,616.60 | $750.00 | $0.00 | $51.06 | $0.00 | $14,417.66 | 57.67% |
Showing 12 of 25 calculated months.
Yearly breakdown
Calendar periods are aggregated directly from the monthly schedule; partial years show their exact month range.
| Period | Starting balance | Regular contributions | Additional | Interest | Fees | Ending balance | Goal progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep–Dec 2026 | $5,000.00 | $3,000.00 | $0.00 | $92.34 | $0.00 | $8,092.34 | 32.37% |
| Jan–Dec 2027 | $8,092.34 | $9,090.00 | $0.00 | $560.23 | $0.00 | $17,742.57 | 70.97% |
| Jan–Sep 2028 | $17,742.57 | $6,975.68 | $0.00 | $713.08 | $0.00 | $25,431.33 | 101.73% |
The solid area is projected balance, the dashed line is the working goal, circles mark milestones, and the vertical marker identifies the target month.
Projected $25,431.33 by September 2028 against a $25,000.00 goal. Milestones reached by the target: 25% in October 2026; 50% in June 2027; 75% in February 2028; 100% in September 2028.
Current savings, new personal contributions, and interest are additions. Fees extend below zero and are explicitly treated as a subtraction.
Current savings $5,000.00 + personal contributions $19,065.68 + interest $1,365.65 − fees $0.00 = projected balance $25,431.33.
How the Savings Goal Calculator works
Monthly compound growth
The model divides the nominal expected annual return by 12. With end-of-month timing, growth applies to the beginning balance before deposits. With beginning timing, regular and additional contributions receive that month’s modeled growth.
Annual contribution increases
The submitted monthly amount applies in months 1–12. The annual increase begins in month 13 and compounds again in months 25, 37, and later. Values remain unrounded inside the simulation and are rounded only for display.
Additional contributions and fees
Named one-time deposits are combined when they share a month and remain itemized in the schedule. The monthly account fee is deducted once at month end and is capped at the available balance, so it cannot create a negative balance.
Inflation-adjusted targets
When enabled, the entered goal stays expressed in today’s dollars. The calculator grows a separate nominal working target using the inflation assumption and the calendar distance from start month to target month.
Required contribution and milestones
A bounded numerical search repeatedly runs the same full simulation to find a first-year monthly contribution that meets the target. Milestones and the estimated goal date use a separate projection of up to 600 months.
Reading the schedules
The monthly table exposes each balance transition, contribution, interest amount, fee, and goal-progress ratio. The yearly table aggregates those exact monthly records and labels partial calendar years with their true month ranges.
Why actual results may differ
Expected returns and inflation are assumptions, not guarantees. Markets, account rules, deposit dates, rate changes, taxes, and fees can differ from the simplified monthly model and materially change an outcome.
Model limits
The calculation uses fixed nominal return, inflation, fee, and contribution-growth assumptions. It excludes taxes, withdrawals, variable returns, daily compounding, weekly or biweekly deposits, and Monte Carlo analysis.
Frequently asked questions
Does the calculator use APY?
No. It treats the expected return as a nominal annual rate and divides it by 12 for monthly compounding. An actual account or investment may compound differently.
Why is the required contribution different from goal divided by months?
The required amount uses the same monthly simulation as the projection, including current savings, compound growth, contribution timing, annual increases, fees, additional contributions, and optional inflation adjustment.
What changes when contributions are made at the beginning of the month?
Beginning-of-month regular and additional contributions receive that month’s modeled growth. End-of-month contributions are added after growth is calculated.
How does the annual contribution increase work?
The initial monthly contribution applies for months 1 through 12. The percentage increase is applied without intermediate rounding in months 13, 25, 37, and every 12 months after that.
What does inflation adjustment do?
It keeps the entered goal in today’s dollars and increases the working nominal target using the expected annual inflation rate and the number of months to the target.
Is the estimated return guaranteed?
No. The return is only an assumption for planning. Actual returns, account fees, contribution timing, and inflation can differ materially from the model.
What happens if the goal is not reached within 600 months?
The calculator reports that the goal date is outside the projection horizon and does not invent a date. The target-date projection and its monthly schedule are still shown.