Savings Goal Calculator
Pick a target, tell us what you've saved and when you need it, and see the exact amount to set aside each month — with your interest doing part of the work. The gateway to every other plan on this site.
Progress toward your goal
How much of the target you've already banked.
How the balance builds
Your contributions stack up, growth rides on top, and together they reach the goal.
Monthly saving at different returns
The same goal and deadline, financed at each rate. Your selected rate is highlighted.
| Where you keep it | Annual return | Monthly saving | You contribute | Growth earned |
|---|
Year-by-year schedule
Annual summary of contributions, growth and running balance until the goal is met.
| Year | Contributed | Growth | Balance | % of goal |
|---|
How this is calculated
The required monthly amount
First we convert your annual return to a monthly rate: rm = (1 + r)^(1/12) − 1. Your current savings grow to saved × (1 + rm)^n by the deadline (n months), so contributions only need to fill the rest. Treating them as an end-of-month annuity, the required amount is (goal − saved × (1 + rm)^n) × rm ÷ ((1 + rm)^n − 1). At a 0% return this collapses to the plain (goal − saved) ÷ n.
The guards
If your current savings already grow past the goal, the required contribution is $0 — the tool celebrates instead of demanding money you don't need to save. If the goal is already banked today, it's funded on day one. Negative results are clamped to zero.
Match the account to your horizon
A savings goal is not a retirement fund — the shorter the timeline, the less risk you can take. Under two years, use a high-interest savings account (top rates near 2.75% in 2026) so the money is liquid and can't drop. Two to five years, ladder GICs (around 4.05% for longer terms) to lock in a guaranteed rate. Five years or more, you can afford to invest in a diversified portfolio — a balanced fund's FP Canada planning assumption is 5.2%, before fees — accepting swings for a higher expected return.
Use a TFSA as the wrapper, and automate it
A TFSA holds any of those products and shelters all the interest and growth from tax; the 2026 room is $7,000 a year. The single biggest predictor of hitting a goal is automation: set the monthly amount to transfer automatically on payday, before you can spend it.
What this doesn't model
Taxes on interest earned outside a TFSA, inflation eroding the goal's real value, variable returns (it assumes a steady rate), or fees. For inflation see the inflation calculator; for long-run investing use compound interest or retirement; for a safety net first, the emergency fund calculator. Rates verified July 2026.