Savings Goal Calculator
How much to save each month to reach a goal, or how long it will take, with interest, inflation and the UK Lifetime ISA bonus.
How to Use Savings Goal Calculator
- 1Choose where you save, so the interest is labelled APY (US), AER (UK) or annual rate.
- 2Pick whether you want to know how much to save each month or how long a monthly amount will take.
- 3Enter your goal, what you've saved already, and either the years to reach it or what you can save each month.
- 4Enter the interest rate, and tick the inflation box if your goal is in today's prices. In the UK, tick the Lifetime ISA box if you're saving for a first home.
- 5Read the monthly saving or the time it takes, the interest you'd earn and the growth chart, then copy or share it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do I need to save each month to reach $20,000 in 3 years?
With $2,000 already saved and 4% APY, $464.77 a month. You'd pay in $16,731.54 and earn about $1,268 of interest. Without the starting $2,000 it's about $523.81 a month.
How long will it take to save $20,000 at $500 a month?
From $2,000 at 4% interest, 34 months: just under 3 years. Saving $600 a month instead cuts it to 29 months.
How much should I save for an emergency fund?
A common guide is 3 to 6 months of essential spending. To build $15,000 in 2 years from nothing at 4.5%, you'd save $598.47 a month. Keep it somewhere you can reach quickly, like an easy-access or high-yield savings account.
Should I allow for inflation?
For goals more than a year or two away, yes. A goal of $50,000 in today's prices in 5 years, at 2.5% inflation, from $5,000 at 4% interest, needs $761.18 a month instead of $662.08, because the goal itself grows to about $56,570.
How does the Lifetime ISA bonus help with a house deposit?
The government adds 25% to what you pay in, on up to £4,000 a year (a bonus of up to £1,000). Saving £333.33 a month at 4%, you'd reach £20,000 in 45 months with the bonus, against 55 months without. The home must cost £450,000 or less, and you must open the account between 18 and 39.
What's the difference between APY and AER?
Both show the interest you'd earn in a year once compounding is counted: APY (annual percentage yield) in the US, AER (annual equivalent rate) in the UK. Comparing them, rather than the monthly or nominal rate, is the fair way to compare savings accounts.
About Savings Goal Calculator
This savings goal calculator works out how much to save each month to reach a target by a date, or how long it will take at a monthly amount you choose, with interest compounded monthly. It can keep the goal in today's prices by growing it with inflation.
In the UK it can add the Lifetime ISA's 25% government bonus for a first-home deposit and warns if you'd go over the £20,000 ISA allowance. A chart shows your savings growing against what you've paid in.
Savings rates change, so use the rate you can actually get. Interest outside tax-free accounts may be taxable.