Pocketools

Savings Goal Calculator

How much to save each month to reach a goal — a trip, a gadget, a wedding — by a target date.

Budgeting Runs in your browser
Your goal

Leave the return at 0 for a savings account or a sinking fund. Use about 6–7% for an RD or a debt fund. Add a price rise for goals more than a year away.

Your plan

Describe your goal

How much to put aside every month, and how your savings build up to the goal, appear here.

Runs entirely in your browser. Your data isn't uploaded — this page makes no network request with anything you type or upload, which you can verify in your browser's network tab. How this works.

What is the Savings Goal Calculator?

A savings goal calculator works backwards from something you want — a trip, a new phone, a bike, a wedding, the down payment on a home — to the amount you need to put aside every month to afford it on time. Enter what the goal costs, when you want it and what you have saved already, and it tells you the monthly figure.

For goals a year or more away you can add two things that change the answer. An expected return accounts for growth if the money sits in a recurring deposit, a debt fund or a SIP rather than a savings account. A yearly price rise accounts for the fact that a holiday or a wedding will cost more by the time you get there. A table shows how the balance builds up. Everything is calculated in your browser.

How to use it

  1. Name your goal, or pick one of the quick goals.
  2. Enter what it costs at today’s prices.
  3. Enter how many months away it is, or pick the target month.
  4. Add what you have saved for it already.
  5. Optionally add an expected return and a yearly price rise, then read your monthly figure.

Example

A ₹2.5 lakh trip in 12 months, with ₹20,000 already saved.

Goal
Goal:           Trip
Cost:           ₹2,50,000
In:             12 months
Already saved:  ₹20,000
Plan
Save every month:  ₹19,167
You put in:        ₹2,30,000 over 12 months
With 6% price rise and 6.5% return:  ₹19,707 a month

Features

  • Monthly amount needed for any goal and deadline
  • Counts what you have already saved, including its growth
  • Optional expected return, compounded monthly like an RD or SIP
  • Optional price rise so long-term goals are not underfunded
  • Shows how much you put in versus how much returns add
  • Year-by-year build-up for longer goals
  • Nothing is uploaded — your goals stay in your browser

Frequently asked questions

How is the monthly amount calculated?
With no return, it is simply the amount still needed divided by the number of months. With a return, each monthly deposit earns interest until the target date, so you need less: the calculator finds the deposit whose future value, plus the growth on what you have already saved, exactly matches the goal.
What expected return should I use?
For goals under a year, use 0 — the money should sit in a savings account or sweep FD where it cannot fall in value. For one to three years, a recurring deposit or a debt fund at about 6–7% is reasonable. Only use equity-style returns for goals five or more years away, and even then be conservative.
Why add a price rise?
Prices go up. A trip that costs ₹2.5 lakh today may cost ₹2.65 lakh next year at 6% inflation. For short goals the difference is small, but for a wedding or a down payment three to five years away, ignoring it can leave you noticeably short.
What is a sinking fund?
It is another name for saving a little every month towards a known future expense — exactly what this calculator plans. Keeping each sinking fund in its own account or RD makes it much harder to dip into by accident.
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