Savings Account Calculator — Project HYSA and Savings Growth
Calculate how your savings account grows over time with regular deposits. Project balance at any APY for high-yield savings accounts, money market accounts, and regular savings.
How a Savings Account Grows Over Time
A savings account earns compound interest on your balance plus any regular deposits. Unlike a CD, you can add money at any time — making savings accounts ideal for emergency funds, short-term goals, and liquid cash reserves. Use the interest calculator to project your balance with a regular monthly deposit at today's high-yield savings rates.
- Current HYSA rates (2024): Online banks offering 4.5–5.25% APY — significantly higher than traditional bank rates of 0.01–0.5%
- Compound frequency: Most savings accounts compound daily, credited monthly — APY is the effective annual rate
- No lock-in: Unlike CDs, you can withdraw from a savings account without penalty
- FDIC insured: Up to $250,000 per depositor per bank
- Best for: Emergency fund, short-term savings goals (1–3 years), holding cash between investments
Choose the Right Variant
- This page: Savings account calculator — HYSA growth with monthly deposits
- Interest Calculators: Compound and simple interest calculations
- CD Calculator: Fixed-term certificates of deposit returns
- Saving Goal Calculator: How long to reach a specific savings target
- Emergency Fund Calculator: How much to keep in savings
HYSA Growth Examples (5% APY)
- $5,000 starting, $500/month for 1 year: ~$11,394 ($394 in interest)
- $10,000 starting, $500/month for 2 years: ~$22,974 ($974 in interest)
- $0 starting, $1,000/month for 3 years: ~$38,734 ($2,734 in interest)
- $50,000 with no deposits for 1 year at 5%: ~$52,558 ($2,558 in interest)
- Rates change with Federal Reserve policy — actual returns may differ from projections
Privacy and Data Handling
All calculations run locally in your browser. Your financial data is never sent to any server and is not stored.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between a HYSA and a regular savings account?
Both are FDIC-insured savings accounts, but the APY is dramatically different. Traditional brick-and-mortar banks (Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo) typically pay 0.01–0.5% APY on savings accounts — effectively nothing. High-yield savings accounts (HYSAs) at online banks (Ally, Marcus, SoFi, Discover) pay 4–5% APY (as of 2024) because online banks have lower overhead costs and use savings rates to attract deposits. The practical difference: on $10,000, a 0.01% account earns $1/year while a 5% HYSA earns $500/year. There's no reason to use a low-yield savings account for funds you're not spending soon.
Will savings account rates stay high?
HYSA rates follow the Federal Funds Rate set by the Federal Reserve. Rates rose sharply from near-zero (2021) to 5.25–5.5% (2023–2024) as the Fed fought inflation. As inflation moderates, the Fed begins cutting rates — savings account rates follow. Once the Fed cuts rates significantly, HYSA rates will likely fall back to 2–3% range or lower. To lock in current high rates, consider CDs (which fix your rate for a term) alongside HYSAs. Don't make long-term financial plans assuming today's HYSA rates persist for 5+ years.
How many savings accounts should I have?
The "buckets" or "sinking funds" approach: keep separate sub-accounts (or separate savings accounts) for different goals — emergency fund, vacation fund, down payment, annual insurance premiums, car replacement. This prevents spending goal-specific savings accidentally and makes progress visible. Many HYSAs (Ally, Alliant Credit Union) support multiple savings "buckets" within one account. Mentally or practically segregating funds by purpose improves savings behavior. The minimum: one emergency fund account that you don't touch, and one account for everything else you're saving toward.