Savings & Banking

Savings Calculator

See exactly where steady saving takes you. Enter your current balance, monthly deposit, and your account's APY to project the balance month by month — how much you'll have put in, how much the bank pays you, and what the total reaches in one, five, or twenty years.

Formula shown below · Tested against worked examplesHow we verify

Current balance

Monthly deposit

APY

High-yield savings accounts have recently paid ~4–5%; the big-bank average is far lower.

Time saving

Balance at the end

$26,239

Total deposits (incl. starting balance): $23,000
Interest earned: $3,239

Growth by year

Year	Balance	Deposits	Interest
1	$8,891	$8,600	$291
2	$12,953	$12,200	$753
3	$17,193	$15,800	$1,393
4	$21,619	$19,400	$2,219
5	$26,239	$23,000	$3,239

Compare scenariosTry three values of one input

Vary

Savings Calculator results for three values of Current balance
Current balance
Balance at the end	$25,619	$26,239+$620	$26,858+$1,239
Total deposits (incl. starting balance)	$22,500	$23,000+$500	$23,500+$1,000
Interest earned	$3,119	$3,239+$120	$3,358+$239

Every other input stays at the value you set above — currently $5,000 for current balance. Differences are measured against the first column.

Saved scenariosSave this calculation

Name this scenario

Saved in this browser only — no account, and nothing is sent to us. Clearing your browser data deletes them.

How this calculator works

Interest is credited monthly at APY ÷ 12 on the running balance, with deposits added at month-end, all in exact cents. This mirrors how banks credit interest closely enough that results match statements within pennies.

Rates float — banks change APYs with the Fed. Treat multi-year projections as scenarios at today's rate, not promises.

Formula

FV = P(1 + r/m)^(m·t) + C × ((1 + r/m)^(m·t) − 1) ÷ (r/m)

FV: Balance at the end
P: Opening balance
C: Deposit added each period
r: Annual rate (APY quoted by the bank), as a decimal
m: Compounding periods per year
t: Years

Savings rates are variable and follow the Federal Reserve, so a projection assumes today's rate holds — treat a long horizon as illustrative rather than predictive.

What this assumes

The rate holds for the whole period. Savings rates are variable and follow the Federal Reserve, so a long projection is illustrative rather than predictive.
Deposits arrive on schedule and nothing is withdrawn.
Interest is taxable as ordinary income in the year earned unless the account is tax-advantaged.

What changes this number

The rate you shop for: The gap between a default bank rate and a competitive one is routinely tenfold. On $20,000 that is roughly $770 a year for one transfer.
Monthly deposit: Dominates the outcome over short horizons, where there is not enough time for compounding to do much.
Compounding frequency: Real but minor — worth a hundredth of a percentage point or so. Not a reason to choose one bank over another.

A worked example

Take the emergency fund build: $0 + $400/mo scenario. These figures are produced by the calculator above, not written alongside it, so they always match what the tool returns.

What you enter

Current balance: $0
Monthly deposit: $400
Time saving: 3 years

What it returns

Balance at the end: $15,341
Total deposits (incl. starting balance): $14,400
Interest earned: $941

Sources

This calculator uses no external data — the result follows entirely from the formula above and the values you enter, so there is nothing to cite beyond the arithmetic.

Calculator last reviewed August 8, 2026. How we verify

Try an example

Emergency fund build: $0 + $400/mo House fund: $20k + $800/mo for 4 years Parked cash: $50k, no deposits

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between APY and interest rate?

APY (annual percentage yield) includes the effect of compounding — it's what you actually earn over a year. A 4.4% rate compounded monthly yields about 4.49% APY. Banks advertise APY precisely so you can compare accounts directly; that's the number to enter here.

How often do savings accounts pay interest?

Most compound daily and credit monthly. This calculator compounds monthly, which matches credited results within pennies. The habit that dominates the outcome isn't the compounding frequency — it's the monthly deposit.

Are high-yield savings accounts safe?

Yes, when FDIC-insured (or NCUA for credit unions): deposits are federally protected up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category. Online banks pay 8–10× the big-bank average because they skip branch costs, not because they take more risk with your money.

Savings account or investing — which should this money be in?

Money you might need within ~3–5 years (emergency fund, house down payment) belongs in savings: guaranteed, insured, instantly available. Longer-horizon money can accept market risk for higher expected returns. Many people run both — this calculator handles the safe layer.