Savings goal: drag the deadline
Drag the handle to set the years. The headline is the monthly deposit that reaches the target at 4 percent, credited monthly. The default run is 5 years. Stretch it toward 8 and the deposit falls, mostly because there are more deposits, not because the rate suddenly does more work.
Monthly deposit
$452.50
Deadline, 5 years
$30,000
Deposits supply $30,000.00. A head start of $0 grows to $0.00 on its own. Illustrative arithmetic, not a plan or advice.
In short
- Drag the handle right for more years, left for fewer.
- Read the monthly deposit. That is the payment, not the interest.
- Raise already-saved on the slider and watch the deposit fall by more than the head start's face value, because that money grows too.
- Focus the handle and use the arrow keys to step the years.
Time cuts the payment twice
The deposit is the future-value-of-an-annuity formula run backwards. Hold the target and the rate still, add years, and two things happen: more deposits share the load, and each deposit has longer to earn. Over a short horizon the first effect dominates.
How savings goals work is the identity, with the savings goal calculator under the answer. Run the same factor forwards and you have the future value of an annuity.
A head start is worth more than its face
Money already in the account grows on its own, so it is subtracted at future value, not at today's value. That is why a head start cuts the deposit by more than a naive split of the target would suggest.
The rate is the weakest lever on a five-year goal. Interest supplies under a tenth of a short target at 4 percent, so a better advertised rate only acts on that tenth.
The target has to be the money you will need then
A figure costed at today's prices buys less by the deadline. Either raise the target, or enter a real rate and read the deposit in today's money. The real rate is , not . How real returns work is that division. Present value is the cousin that discounts a future lump instead of solving for a deposit.
Common questions
Why does adding years cut the deposit so much?
Mostly because you make more deposits. Spreading the same target over more months would cut the payment even in an account that paid nothing. Extra interest from the longer wait is the smaller piece on a short goal.
Does already saved just subtract from the target?
No. It is grown to the deadline first, then subtracted. That is why a head start covers more than its own face value.
Is this a plan I should start?
No. It is the deposit that hits a target you typed, at a rate you typed. It is educational material, not advice.
Keep reading
This page is educational material, not financial advice. The figures come from the formula shown and assume the inputs you enter hold for the whole term. Your own rate, fees, taxes and timing will differ, so treat the output as arithmetic to check a decision against, not as a recommendation.