Free Savings Calculator
Two questions, one tool. See what a starting balance and a monthly deposit grow into, or work backwards to find how much you need to put aside each month to hit a goal. This savings calculator treats your rate as an APY, the way banks actually quote it.
Savings Calculator
Grow a balance, or work backwards from a goal.
$0
Enter your figures to begin.
| Mode | Grow a balance |
|---|---|
| Starting balance | — |
| Monthly deposit | — |
| Number of deposits | — |
| Total deposited | — |
| Interest earned | — |
| Balance at the end | — |
An estimate from your own figures. It assumes the APY you enter stays the same throughout, which variable-rate accounts do not guarantee, and it excludes tax on interest, fees and inflation.
We don't store your inputs. No sign-up required.
Your Savings Projection Explained
The results card updates as you type. What it shows depends on which mode you picked, and the two answer genuinely different questions.
- Total you deposit — your starting balance plus every monthly deposit added together. This is money that came out of your pocket, not growth.
- Interest earned — the difference between the final balance and what you put in. It shows a dash until you enter an APY, because without a rate there is nothing to compute.
- Balance at the end — deposits plus interest. These two always add up exactly to this figure, which is a useful check on any savings projection.
In Grow a balance mode the headline is the balance you finish with. In Save to a goal mode the headline becomes the monthly deposit required, and the goal itself becomes the ending balance. The deposit and interest lines still split that total the same way.
Open View Full Breakdown for the number of deposits, the exact monthly figure to the cent, and the deposits-versus-interest split written out in full.
The rate field starts empty on purpose. Savings rates differ by bank, by account type and sometimes by balance tier, and they change whenever the institution decides to change them. We will not print a rate here and have it be wrong for you — take the APY from your own account statement or from the bank you are considering, and enter it above.
What Is a Savings Calculator?
A savings calculator projects what money set aside becomes over time, given a rate of interest. It answers the question most people actually have about saving: is this worth doing, and how long will it take?
The arithmetic has two moving parts. A lump sum — whatever you start with — compounds on its own. A stream of deposits — what you add each month — compounds too, but each deposit has less time to grow than the one before it. Add the two together and you have the balance. As a savings account calculator this page handles both at once, which is why the starting balance and the monthly deposit are separate inputs rather than one combined figure.
Where it differs from a plain compound interest savings calculator is the second mode. Most people saving for something specific do not want to know what their deposits become; they want to know what deposit reaches the number they have in mind. That is the same equation solved for a different unknown, and this tool does it directly rather than making you guess and check.
What the calculator gives you:
- The balance at the end, split into your own money and the interest.
- A savings goal calculator that works backwards from a target to a monthly deposit.
- A year-by-year table, so you can see where the balance stands part-way through.
- Correct handling of APY, which matters more than it sounds and is covered in detail below.
What it cannot do: tell you what rate you will be paid, guarantee the rate stays put, account for tax on your interest, or adjust for rising prices. It is arithmetic applied to the figures you supply.
How Savings Growth Is Calculated
Three inputs drive every figure on this page, and each affects the result in a different way.
Your starting balance
Money already saved has the longest to compound, so it does the most work per dollar. A balance left alone grows by the rate each period and then grows on the larger amount next period — the effect accelerates rather than running at a steady pace. This is why a modest sum started early can outperform a larger sum started late.
Your monthly deposits
Each deposit compounds only from the month it arrives. The first deposit in a five-year plan compounds for nearly the whole term; the last one earns nothing at all. The calculator assumes deposits land at the end of each month, which is the conservative convention — depositing at the start of the month earns one extra period of interest on every single deposit.
Over short periods deposits dominate the balance and interest barely registers. Over long ones the relationship inverts. The year-by-year table below makes the crossover visible.
The rate and the time frame
The rate decides how fast the balance compounds; the time frame decides how many times it does so. Of the two, time frame is usually the more powerful lever, because the number of compounding periods sits in the exponent while the rate sits in the base.
One important caveat: this calculator holds your APY constant for the whole term. Easy-access savings accounts are typically variable rate, meaning the bank can change it. Treat a long projection at today's rate as a scenario, not a forecast.
APY vs APR: Why the Difference Matters
This is the detail that separates a correct savings projection from a flattering one, and a surprising number of calculators get it wrong.
APY — annual percentage yield — is what you actually earn over a year, with compounding already included. APR — annual percentage rate — is a nominal rate that ignores compounding. Deposit products are quoted as APY; loans are usually quoted as APR. If you take an APY and then compound it monthly as though it were nominal, you count the compounding twice and overstate the balance.
The gap is small per year and compounds into something larger. Here is the exact case we test the engine against:
| Treatment of a 5% rate | Monthly rate used | $1,000 after one year |
|---|---|---|
| As an APY (this page) | (1 + 0.05)1/12 − 1 ≈ 0.4074% | $1,050.00 |
| As a nominal APR, compounded monthly | 0.05 ÷ 12 ≈ 0.4167% | $1,051.16 |
A 5% APY must turn $1,000 into exactly $1,050 after one year. That is what APY means. The second row is the common bug: $1.16 too much in year one, and the error grows with every year and every dollar added. We convert your APY into the equivalent monthly rate so that re-compounding it twelve times returns your APY exactly.
Check any savings calculator in ten seconds. Enter a starting balance of 1,000, a monthly deposit of 0, a rate of 5% and one year. If it returns $1,050, it treats the rate as an APY. If it returns $1,051.16, it is compounding a quoted yield a second time, and every longer projection it gives you is slightly too optimistic.
One related point when comparing accounts: because APY already folds in compounding frequency, two accounts with the same APY pay the same over a year regardless of whether they compound daily, monthly or quarterly. APY is the comparable figure, which is exactly why regulators require deposit products to advertise it.
Grow a Balance vs Save to a Goal
The two modes solve the same equation for different unknowns. Which one you want depends on whether you have a deposit in mind or a destination.
| Mode | You supply | You get back | Use it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grow a balance | Monthly deposit | Final balance | You know what you can afford to save and want to see where it lands. |
| Save to a goal | Target amount | Monthly deposit required | You have a number and a deadline, and need to know what it takes. |
Because goal mode is the true algebraic inverse rather than an approximation, the two agree: take the monthly figure goal mode gives you, switch to grow mode, enter it, and you land on your goal. That round trip is part of our test suite, and it is worth doing once yourself to see that the tool is internally consistent.
Goal mode has two behaviors worth knowing about. If your starting balance already grows past the goal on its own, the required deposit is zero rather than a negative number — the calculator says so plainly instead of suggesting you withdraw money. And if the monthly figure comes back uncomfortably high, the three levers are the same three as always: save for longer, aim for less, or find a better rate. Only the first two are genuinely in your control.
Work the deadline, not the rate. Goal mode makes it obvious how much the time frame is doing. Try your goal over three years, then five. The monthly deposit usually falls by far more than any realistic improvement in APY would achieve — chasing an extra quarter of a percent is a much smaller lever than giving yourself another two years.
Your Balance Year by Year
The ending balance hides the shape of the journey. This table shows where the balance stands at the end of each year, split the same way as the results card.
| Year | Total deposited | Interest earned | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enter the APY your account pays to see the year-by-year breakdown. | |||
Watch the middle two columns rather than the last one. Early on, the deposited column is nearly the whole balance and interest is a rounding error — which is the stage at which most people conclude that saving is not working and stop. Further down, interest starts growing faster than it did the year before, because it is now being earned on previous interest as well as on your deposits.
Whether interest ever overtakes deposits depends on the rate and the term. At the rates easy-access savings accounts typically pay it may not happen within the horizon you have entered, and the table will show you that honestly rather than implying otherwise. Our compound interest calculator explores that crossover in more depth.
Where to Keep Your Savings
The calculator does not care what kind of account you use — it applies whatever APY you enter. But the account you choose determines that APY and how easily you can get at the money, so the two decisions interact.
| Where | Access | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Standard savings account | Easy | Convenient, often paying noticeably less than other options at the same institution. Variable rate. |
| High-yield savings account | Easy | Usually the better rate for money you may need. Still variable, so today's figure is not a promise. The reason people search for a high yield savings account calculator in the first place. |
| Money market account | Easy, sometimes with check or card access | Similar in spirit to savings; terms and minimum balances vary considerably by institution. |
| Certificate of deposit | Locked for a fixed term | A fixed rate for the term, typically higher, in exchange for an early-withdrawal penalty. Poor home for an emergency fund. |
We quote no rates in that table, deliberately, and you should be skeptical of any page that does — published rates go stale within weeks. Compare current offers directly, and read the conditions: some headline rates apply only up to a balance cap, require a minimum deposit, or depend on not making withdrawals.
On safety: deposits at an institution insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or, for credit unions, the National Credit Union Administration are protected up to the applicable limits if that institution fails. The cover applies per depositor, per institution and per ownership category, so a balance well above the limit at one bank may not be fully covered. Confirm your institution is insured and check the current limits at the source rather than relying on a figure printed anywhere else.
Finally, remember that interest is generally taxable income in the year you earn it, which the calculator does not deduct. See the IRS guidance on interest income, and treat the balances here as before-tax figures.
How to Use This Savings Calculator
- Pick your mode. Grow a balance if you know what you can save each month; Save to a goal if you know the number you are aiming at.
- Enter your starting balance. Whatever is already set aside for this purpose. Enter 0 if you are starting from scratch.
- Enter the monthly deposit or the goal, depending on the mode. Only the field that applies is shown.
- Enter the APY your account pays. Take it from your statement or the bank's current rate page. Leave it blank and the calculator reports your deposits alone, with no interest assumed.
- Set the time frame in years — how long before you need the money.
- Read the deposited and interest lines, not just the headline. The split tells you how much of the outcome is your own doing.
- Change one input at a time and watch the year-by-year table. Doubling the term and doubling the rate do very different things.
A note on the deposit timing: the calculator assumes each deposit lands at the end of the month. If you save on payday at the start of the month, your real balance will come out slightly ahead of the projection — so the figures err on the cautious side rather than the flattering one.
Treat the output as a planning estimate. It holds the rate constant, ignores tax on interest, ignores fees and makes no adjustment for inflation. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.
Our Methodology
Growth is the future value of a lump sum plus an ordinary annuity: the starting balance compounds for the full term, and each monthly deposit compounds from the end of the month it arrives. Goal mode is the same expression solved for the deposit, not an iterative search, so it returns the exact figure.
The APY you enter is converted to a monthly periodic rate as (1 + APY)1/12 − 1. That is the single most important line in the engine. Compounding that rate twelve times reproduces your APY exactly, so a 5% APY turns $1,000 into exactly $1,050 after one year. Dividing the APY by twelve instead — the common shortcut — would return $1,051.16 and overstate every longer projection.
Before publication the engine was cross-checked against an independently written month-by-month simulation across six scenarios with no disagreement. Goal mode was verified to round-trip to its target across six scenarios; the balance was proved to equal deposits plus interest exactly; monotonicity was confirmed in both directions; and the zero-rate, zero-term and already-met-goal edge cases were each tested. All currency is rounded to cents before display, so float artifacts never reach the page.
No rate appears anywhere on this page as a suggestion, default or example of what you might earn. The 5% figure used above exists only to demonstrate the APY arithmetic, and the input field ships empty.
What this tool is not. It does not predict rates, and it holds the APY you enter constant for the whole term even though easy-access savings rates are typically variable. It excludes federal and state tax on interest, account fees, minimum-balance conditions and promotional rates that expire. It reports nominal dollars with no inflation adjustment. It is arithmetic, not advice. See our disclaimer before acting on any output.
How to Build an Emergency Fund
Before saving toward anything else, most people need a buffer they can reach at short notice. This guide covers how much to hold, where to keep it, and how to get there one deposit at a time.
Read Full GuideFrequently Asked Questions
That depends on three things you control and one you do not: your starting balance, how much you add each month, how long you leave it, and the rate your account pays. Enter those four figures above and the calculator shows the balance at the end, split into what you deposited and what the interest added. We do not supply a rate, because rates differ by bank and account type and change constantly — take the APY from your own account or from the bank you are considering.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the rate you actually earn over a year once compounding is taken into account. APR is a nominal rate that does not include compounding. Savings accounts are quoted as APY, which is why this calculator treats your figure as an APY and converts it to a monthly rate properly. The difference is real: a 5% APY turns 1,000 dollars into exactly 1,050 dollars after one year, while wrongly compounding 5% as a monthly nominal rate would report 1,051.16 dollars.
Switch the calculator to Save to a goal, enter the amount you are saving toward, your starting balance and the number of years, and it works backwards to the monthly deposit required. This is the exact algebraic inverse of the growth calculation, so the two modes agree: put the resulting monthly figure back into Grow a balance and you land on your goal.
Yes. Interest increases the number of dollars you hold, but rising prices reduce what each dollar buys. If your account pays less than the rate at which prices rise, your balance grows while your purchasing power shrinks. This calculator reports nominal dollars only — the figure you would actually see in your account — and makes no inflation adjustment, so treat long projections as a count of dollars rather than a measure of what they will buy.
Neither is better in general; they trade access for rate. A certificate of deposit locks your money up for a fixed term and usually charges a penalty for early withdrawal, and in exchange often pays more than an easy-access savings account. A savings account lets you withdraw when you need to. Money you may need at short notice, such as an emergency fund, belongs where you can reach it, which is often worth more than a slightly higher rate.
Deposits at a bank insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or at a credit union insured by the National Credit Union Administration, are protected up to the applicable limits if the institution fails. The protection applies per depositor, per institution and per ownership category, so very large balances held at a single institution may not be covered in full. Check that your institution is insured and confirm the current limits on the FDIC or NCUA website.
Every figure on this page is derived from the amounts and the APY you enter, and the engine was cross-checked against an independent month-by-month implementation before release. For authoritative information on deposit protection see the FDIC and the NCUA, and the IRS on taxable interest. More about who we are.
Suzon Mahmud
Suzon Mahmud is a consumer-finance writer covering saving, interest, loans and budgeting.
Related Calculators
These free tools cover the rest of the picture:
- CD Calculator — a fixed rate locked for a fixed term, and what breaking it early costs.
- Inflation Calculator — what your balance will actually buy once prices have risen.
- Budget Calculator — find the monthly deposit in the first place, with the 50/30/20 split.
- Compound Interest Calculator — the mechanics of compounding in more depth, for any kind of balance.
- Down Payment Calculator — saving toward a specific house, with the deposit target worked out for you.
- Retirement Calculator — the same arithmetic over a much longer horizon.
- 401(k) Calculator — saving through a workplace plan, with the employer match.
- Roth IRA Calculator — tax-free growth versus a deduction now.
- Debt Payoff Calculator — worth checking first if you hold high-interest debt.
- Net Worth Calculator — where a growing balance shows up alongside everything you owe.
- How to Build an Emergency Fund — the buffer that comes before every other savings goal.
- All Calculators — every free tool on the site in one place.
- Disclaimer — the limits of what these estimates can tell you.