Savings Goal Calculator
Pick the goal. Then either the date and it tells you the monthly amount, or the monthly amount and it tells you the date.
The goal
Leave 0 if you're not sure.
Your plan
Your goal
Put aside $375 a month and you'll have $5,000 for your goal in 1 year.
Getting there
Your balance month by month. The dashed line is the goal.
A one-off $400 now would drop the monthly amount to $342.
How it's calculated
Each month your balance earns a twelfth of the yearly interest, then the monthly amount lands. Given the date, the calculator finds the monthly amount that lands exactly on the goal; given the monthly amount, it counts the months until the balance gets there.
Over a year or two, interest barely moves the answer: on a two-year goal, a 4% account changes the monthly amount by a few percent. The monthly amount is what matters; the account is a place to keep it out of reach.
Give the goal its own pot and automate the transfer for the day after payday. A goal you have to remember is a goal you'll skip in a busy month. Pikaflow tracks goals like this one next to your spending.