Enter purpose, goal (or target amount), interest rate, and years to save. The program calculates the monthly savings amount required to reach that goal.

In this example parents started saving $225.55 per month when daughter Sharon was born, for 20 years, which will be a total out-of-pocket outlay over time of $54,132.82.

They're putting their money into a mutual fund earning an average rate of return of 5.65%.

At the end of the 20 years they will have accumulated a savings balance of $100,000, earning $45,867.18 in interest, almost doubling their money.