Savings Goal Calculator
Target, deadline and return rate to a required monthly contribution. Assumes monthly compounding.
Monthly contribution
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Total you contribute
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From growth
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Worked example
To reach 50,000 in six years from 5,000 at 5% needs about 456 a month. You contribute roughly 37,800; growth supplies the remaining 12,200.
Saving to a target is the inverse of a loan. Instead of an unknown payment given a known principal, you know the future value and solve for the payment. The formula is the same annuity equation rearranged.
Why the required amount feels high
Because most of the target has to come from contributions, not from growth, unless the horizon is long. A six-year horizon at 5% gives growth about a quarter of the total; a twenty-year horizon gives it more than half.