Your Net WorthGlossary
Time to goal
Time to goal is the number of months or years needed to reach a savings or investment target.
Given a starting amount, a monthly contribution, and an expected return, you can calculate when the pot will hit a target. The answer depends more on the contribution amount than on the return rate for short goals, and more on the return rate for long goals.
Time-to-goal maths is the mirror of compound interest. Instead of asking "what will this grow to?", you ask "how long until it grows to that?"
Inflation changes the picture. A goal stated in today's money needs more nominal pounds by the deadline, so the real time to goal is usually longer than the nominal one.