How much do you need to save each month to reach your goal?
Take what is still missing - your goal, minus what you have saved - and divide it by the months until you want it. Put in your own figures, with your savings in any currency, to see the amount to save each month, or type what you can save and see the month you get there.
How much should you save each month for a goal?
Take your goal, subtract what you have already saved, and divide what is left by the number of months until you want the money. Round the answer up to the next cent, or to the smallest unit your currency uses, so that the last month does not fall short.
If you type a yearly interest or return rate, the calculator also counts growth on what you have saved and on each monthly saving, so the monthly amount comes out lower. Saving for a safety net first? The emergency fund calculator works out how big it should be.
How long does a monthly amount take to reach a goal?
Choose “When you reach it” and type what you can save each month. The calculator divides what is still missing by that amount and rounds up to a whole month, or, with a rate, counts forward one month at a time until your savings reach the goal. It counts your first saving one month from now, and names the month you get there.
If what you have saved already reaches the goal, it says so. If you add nothing each month and assume no growth, the goal is never reached, and it says that too.
What if your savings are in another currency?
Put the goal in the currency you will spend it in, and your savings in the currency they are held in. The calculator converts what you have saved into the goal’s currency at today’s exchange rate, and shows the amount to save each month in both currencies, each rounded up on its own.
The converted figures move with the exchange rate, even in a month when you save nothing, so check them again from time to time.
What does an interest or return rate change?
Leave it at 0 and the calculator counts only what you put in. Type a rate and it assumes your savings grow by that much over each whole year, spread evenly over the months, on what you have saved and on each monthly saving. The table then shows how much of the total you put in and how much comes from interest or return.
The rate is your own assumption, not a forecast, and the calculator does not suggest one. The interest on a savings account can change, and investments can fall as well as rise. If your savings grow more slowly than you assumed, you reach the goal later, or need to save more each month.
How does the worked example add up?
You live in the UK and keep your savings in pounds. You want €15,000.00 in 24 months, to pay for a year of study in Germany, and you have £3,000.00 saved so far.
At the example rate of 1 GBP = 1.162162 EUR, your £3,000.00 is €3,486.49, so €11,513.51 is still missing. Divided over 24 months and rounded up, that is €479.73 a month, or £412.80 at the same rate.
Over the 24 months you add €11,513.52 and end with €15,000.01: the extra €0.01 comes from rounding the monthly amount up.
How is it worked out?
With no rate, it is division, with the goal and the result in the goal’s currency:
saved = saved so far × today’s rate
still to save = goal − saved
each month = still to save ÷ months, rounded up
months = still to save ÷ each month, rounded up
With a yearly rate you assume, the growth in one month is the rate spread so that twelve months of it make one year’s, and after n months your savings are worth:
growth = (1 + yearly rate) to the power 1/12
worth after n = saved × growthⁿ + each month × (growthⁿ − 1) ÷ (growth − 1)
The calculator finds the smallest monthly amount, or the fewest months, for which that reaches your goal. The rates are one table based on the US dollar, so a pair such as pounds to euros goes through the dollar. Every amount is rounded to the smallest unit its currency uses, as it is shown, and the monthly amount is rounded up, so the total can end a little above the goal. The count starts with your first saving one month from now, and it leaves out tax, fees and future changes in the exchange rate.
Questions
- How much do I need to save each month to reach a savings goal?
- Take your goal, subtract what you have already saved, and divide what is left by the number of months until you want the money. Round the answer up to the next cent, or to the smallest unit your currency uses, or the last month falls a little short. If you assume that your savings earn interest or a return, the monthly amount comes out lower, because the growth covers part of the gap.
- How do I work out when I will reach a savings goal?
- Divide what is still missing by what you can save each month, and round up to a whole month. With a rate of interest or return, count forward one month at a time, adding the growth and each month's saving, until the total reaches the goal. The savings goal calculator does this for you and names the month, counting your first saving one month from now.
- How does the savings goal calculator use an interest or return rate?
- Only as you type it. The rate is your own assumption, and the calculator does not suggest one. It treats the rate as growth over a whole year, spread over the months, on what you have saved and on each monthly saving. Leave it at 0 to count only what you put in. If your savings grow more slowly than you assumed, you reach the goal later or need to save more each month.
- My savings are in a different currency from my goal. How does the savings goal calculator handle that?
- Put the goal in the currency you will spend it in, and your savings in the currency they are held in. The calculator converts your savings into the goal's currency at today's exchange rate, and shows the amount to save each month in both currencies. Exchange rates move, so those figures move too: check them again from time to time.
- Is anything I type into the savings goal calculator sent anywhere?
- No. The page downloads the day's exchange rates from Hundo once, then works everything out in your browser. The amounts, dates and currencies you type never leave it.
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Watch your progress toward the goal in your real accounts.
Hundo shows the account you save in beside every other account, each in its own currency, and one net worth across your accounts, investments, debts and IOUs in over 160 currencies, with a chart of how it moves over time. Logging stays quick: when you add a transaction, Hundo already suggests the entries you usually make, ranked from your own history, so one tap fills every field. With Pro, you can also ask the built-in AI assistant to think through a goal like this one with your own numbers. The tracker is free forever and nothing in it is capped.
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