Multiple financial goals calculator: what funding each one costs the others

Why is one goal at a time the wrong picture?

Almost every savings calculator asks about one goal. How long to save a deposit. How long to clear a card. How much for retirement. Each gives a clean answer, and each quietly assumes the money is only going there.

Nobody has one goal. A person saving a house deposit usually also has a card to clear and a retirement balance that is behind. The salary does not grow to accommodate that, so the goals compete, and the real question is not how long any one of them takes. It is what funding one costs the others.

That question is answered by adviser software costing a few hundred a month, and by two consumer subscriptions at around $130 a year that both need an account. It is not answered by any free calculator we could find. So this is that calculator.

One thing to check before you enter a card

If you clear your credit card closing balance by the due date each month, no interest is charged and the card is not a goal to fund. There is nothing to pay off early and nothing to gain by allocating money to it. Only a balance you are actually carrying belongs in the list below.

And once you do carry a balance, the interest-free period is generally lost: new purchases start accruing interest from the day you buy rather than from the next statement, and you get it back by clearing the balance in full again.

What do the numbers actually do?

Debt goals use the standard amortisation arithmetic: at a given payment and rate, the balance falls by the payment minus that month's interest, and the months to zero follow from that. If the payment is below the monthly interest the balance never falls, and the tool says so rather than returning a number.

Savings goals step month by month. The balance grows by one month of return and then the contribution is added, repeating until the target is met. That is slightly slower than a closed formula and exactly right, which is the better trade.

The "on its own" figure beside each goal is what that goal would take if it had the entire surplus. That is the number every other calculator gives you. The difference between that and the real figure is what the competition costs.

What will it deliberately not do?

It will not suggest a split. Adding a "recommended allocation" button would make this page more satisfying to use and would also turn arithmetic into advice, which is a line this site does not cross.

So the sliders are yours. Move them, and the tool reports what happens to every goal. It states no view on which goal matters more, because that is a question about your life rather than your numbers.

It also cannot see several things that reasonably change what a person does. A cost you stop paying is worth more than a return you might receive. An emergency buffer earns nothing and prevents the most expensive outcome on the list. And clearing a small debt first is mathematically worse and easier to sustain, which is the whole snowball argument, covered on the debt payoff planner.

Common questions

How do I split money between multiple financial goals?

There is no arithmetic answer, because the goals are not comparable: a house deposit and a retirement balance serve different purposes on different timescales. What the arithmetic can tell you is the cost of each split. Move the sliders above and every goal's date moves with them, so you can see what you are trading rather than guessing at it.

Should I save for a house or pay off debt first?

By return alone, clearing debt whose rate exceeds your savings return wins, because the interest you stop paying is certain and the return you might earn is not. Whether that is the right call depends on whether the deposit has a deadline. The order of operations calculator ranks purely by return if that is the comparison you want.

Why does my goal take so much longer here than in other calculators?

Because other calculators give the goal your entire surplus. This one gives it the share you allocated. The "on its own" figure beside each goal is the number you would see elsewhere, and the gap between the two is the point of the page.

What happens if I set a payment lower than the interest?

The debt never clears, and the tool says so rather than returning a large number. A payment below the monthly interest means the balance grows, which several published calculators handle by looping or by showing a nonsense figure.

Is this financial advice?

No. It is arithmetic on numbers you entered. It recommends no split, names no product, and knows nothing about you beyond those numbers. If you want advice about your circumstances, that is a conversation with a licensed adviser.

This is a model, not a prediction. It works out how long each goal takes at the split you chose, using the rates you entered. It cannot predict investment returns or interest rate movements, and it does not account for tax, fees, irregular income, or the relative importance of your goals. It is not intended to be your only source of information when making a financial decision, and you may want to consider advice from a licensed financial adviser. The default 4% savings return is a round mid-range figure rather than a forecast, and it is yours to change.