Skip to main content
Money Mechanicsfrom The Payments Corner
Subscribe
The Toolbox
Calculator

Save a million

See how long steady saving takes to reach a million — or any big target.

Your plan

Steady saving plus compounding. See how long the target takes.

A million is the classic goal — set your own.
What you’ll add every month.
Your starting balance.
A guess, not a promise.
How this is calculated

We compound your starting balance plus your monthly deposit every month at return ÷ 12, then solve for the number of months it takes the total to reach your target. At a 0% return it’s just the target minus what you have, divided by the monthly amount.

With any positive return, earlier dollars earn returns that earn returns of their own — so the finish line arrives sooner than contributions alone would suggest. Real returns aren’t smooth; this is a what-if, not a forecast. If there’s no contribution and no growth path to the target, we say so instead of guessing.

Time to reach $1,000,000

27 yr 7 mo

that’s 331 months of steady saving.

You put in

$331,000

your deposits

Growth does the rest

$669,000

the market’s share

Return saves you

55 yr 9 mo

vs. a 0% account

Saving $1,000 a month at 7% reaches $1,000,000 in 27 yr 7 mo. You contribute $331,000; growth covers the rest. That return gets you there about 55 yr 9 mo sooner than a no-growth account.

Runs entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is sent anywhere.