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Savings Goal Calculator — Pick a Number, Get a Date
Target, what's saved, what you add monthly — out comes the finish month, and what it'd take to move it.
Want it in 12 months? That's $625/mo.
The dashed line is your target; the curve is your balance, month by month. 0% is a savings account being honest about itself — flip the chips to see how little return moves a near-dated goal.
How it works
A savings goal has exactly three moving parts: the number you're aiming at, the money already set aside, and what you add each month. This calculator runs the months forward — each month your balance grows by the chip's return (0% by default) and your contribution lands — until the balance crosses the target. Out comes a month with a name on it, which is the entire trick: "$10,000 someday" is a wish, "Feb 2028" is a plan you can argue with.
The defaults show the shape. $2,500 saved against a $10,000 target is 25% funded — the marker on the bar. The $7,500 gap at $400 a month is 18.75 months, which rounds up to 19: fully funded Feb 2028. And the line underneath answers the follow-up question before you ask it: if Feb 2028 feels too far away, a 12-month finish costs $625 a month. That's the real dial. Moving the date is almost always a contribution decision, not a returns decision — at these defaults, even the 5% chip only pulls the finish up by a single month.
If this page feels like an app feature, that's because it is one — this is ClariFi's Goal Forecast with the serial numbers filed off. In the app, every goal you set computes its own required-$-per-month, its projected finish, and an on-track verdict from your real balance rather than a typed-in one — and when you're feeling flush, a quick contribution goes straight in and the date moves while you watch.
The formula
gap = target − saved
balance = balance × (1 + rate ÷ 12) + monthly each month, until balance ≥ target
finish = this month + months elapsed
12-month = ceil(gap ÷ 12) ← the pace that finishes in a year
Example: ($10,000 − $2,500) ÷ $400/mo = 18.75 → 19 months → Feb 2028
25% funded today · $625/mo would do it in 12
Honest assumptions
- The return chips are illustrations, not predictions. 0% is a savings account being honest about itself; 2% and 5% exist to show how much — or how little — return moves a near-dated goal.
- Contributions are assumed steady, one per month, starting now; dates count forward from July 2026. Miss a month and the finish slides by roughly a month.
- Inflation isn't modeled — a $10,000 goal reached in 2028 buys a little less than $10,000 does today. The inflation calculator shows how much.
- Any interest the money earns along the way may be taxable; this page doesn't model taxes.
- This page does arithmetic. It doesn't know your life — it's a starting point, not a plan, and not advice.
Questions people ask
Where should I keep money for a savings goal?
Match the account to the date, not the other way around. Money with a name and a near date on it usually wants to be boring and reachable — somewhere it can't lose value the month you need it. For goals many years out, some people accept market risk in exchange for growth; the chips above let you see what that trade is actually worth for your date. Where exactly it lives is your call — this page just does the months.
Why does the calculator default to 0% return?
Because a finish date shouldn't depend on a guess. At the defaults, the 5% chip moves the finish from 19 months to 18 — one month, in exchange for an assumption that may not hold. Near-dated goals are contribution problems, and 0% keeps the math honest about that. The chips are there so you can check the claim yourself.
Can I use this for multiple goals at once?
Run them one at a time, splitting your real monthly amount between them — $400 across two goals is $200 into each, and each gets its own honest date. If the dates that come out annoy you, that's useful information about which goal actually matters. ClariFi's Goal Forecast tracks as many goals as you like, each with its own pace and verdict.
What happens if I miss a month?
The date slides by roughly a month, and nothing else happens — the arithmetic holds no grudges. Come back, update "already saved" to whatever's actually there, and read the new date. Pace over perfection: a goal funded at $350 a month with two missed months still finishes, just later than the plan said.
Related calculators
ClariFi makes tools, not advice. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or sign anything.
In the app
ClariFi runs this math on your real accounts.
Connect your bank once and the numbers on this page compute themselves — live, private, every day. Free in TestFlight early access.
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