Real Savings Goal

The required monthly amount depends on four things: the size of your target, how long you have, the return you expect to earn, and how much inflation and tax erode that return. This calculator solves for the monthly figure given your inputs, so you can see immediately whether a goal is comfortable or needs either more time or a larger contribution. Adjusting the timeframe is often the easiest lever to make a goal achievable.

A goal that costs a certain amount today will cost more in future because prices rise, so aiming at the un-adjusted figure would leave you short. Tax also matters: gains earned in a taxable account are reduced by tax, lowering your effective return. Accounting for both means the monthly saving this tool suggests is realistic, rather than optimistically assuming every unit of return reaches your goal untouched.

Tax drag is the ongoing reduction in your returns caused by tax on interest, dividends, and realised gains in a taxable account. Over many years it can noticeably slow growth compared with the headline return. Using tax-advantaged accounts where available reduces or defers this drag, which is why the type of account you save in can matter almost as much as how much you save.

No. The figure is an educational estimate based on a steady assumed return, and real returns vary from year to year. Use it to plan and to compare scenarios - for example, saving for longer versus saving more each month - rather than as a promise. Revisit the numbers periodically and adjust as your circumstances and the markets change.