Financial Goal Planning Calculator

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Goal Planning helps individuals define financial objectives (such as buying a house or retirement) and calculate the investments needed to achieve them within a specific time frame. More info →

Input

Enter goal details to calculate future investment requirements.

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How This Calculator Works

Enter what your goal costs in today's money, such as a house, car or holiday. The calculator raises that amount by inflation to find what it will cost when you need it, then works out the monthly investment that will grow to that amount.

The Formulas

Future Goal Value = Goal Amount × (1 + Inflation)^Years
Monthly Investment = Future Goal Value ÷ {[(1 + i)ⁿ − 1] ÷ i × (1 + i)}

i = expected return ÷ 12 · n = years × 12 · At 0% return, Monthly Investment = Future Goal Value ÷ n

What Each Input Does

Goal Amount: What the goal would cost today.
Years to Goal: How many years until you need the money.
Expected Return (%): The yearly return you expect on your investments.
Inflation (%): How fast the goal's cost is expected to rise each year.

Step by Step

The goal amount is grown by inflation for the number of years.
The monthly investment, made at the start of each month, is worked out so it grows to that future value.
Both results are rounded to the nearest whole amount.

Reading the Result

Future goal value – what the goal will really cost.

Monthly investment – the amount to set aside each month.

Quick Example

Goal of 1,000,000 in today's money, 10 years away, expected return 12%, inflation 6%. The goal will cost 1,790,848, so you need to invest about 7,708 a month.