Tools/Budgeting, spending & saving/Down Payment Savings Calculator✓ CHECKED AGAINST WORKED EXAMPLES · SEP 29, 2026

How long will it take to save a down payment for a home?

Add up the down payment, closing costs and cash you want left over, then see how many months it takes at your monthly saving, with the interest taxed, and what a smaller down payment would cost you in mortgage insurance.

Edit on my map

Home price$Prefilled from your Money Map’s ceiling on a home. Use the price of the home you are looking at.Closing costs% of priceAn example: 3%, inside the 2% to 5% Freddie Mac gives. Your lender’s Loan Estimate has the real figure.Cash to keep after closing$Optional: an emergency fund or moving budget you want left after you buy. It is added to what you need to save.Saved so far for the home$Prefilled from the cash on your Money Map. Count only what you are willing to spend on the home.You add each month$Prefilled from your Money Map: take-home pay less spending, to the nearest $100. Use what you will really set aside.Yearly yield on your savings%An example: the 4.37% 26-week Treasury bill yield of September 29, 2026, as a yearly rate. Use your account’s APY.Tax rate on the interest%Prefilled with your federal bracket from the Money Map. Add your state’s rate if it taxes interest.

Down payment20%A share of the price. Under 20% a conventional loan usually adds mortgage insurance; the table below compares the usual amounts.

TIME TO SAVEONE TO THREE YEARS

2 yr 2 mo

A $536,000 home needs $123,280 in cash, $107,200 down (20%) plus $16,080 of closing costs. Starting with $9,000 and adding $4,300 a month at 4.42% a year (3.36% after 24% tax on the interest), you get there in 2 years 2 months: $111,800 of deposits and $4,607 of interest bring it to $125,407. Saving $4,588 a month would do it in 2 years.

Cash to save

$123,280

Left to save

$114,280

Interest earned

$4,607

In 2 years

$4,588/mo

UNDERSTAND YOUR RESULT

LIBRARY CHAPTERPlanning a Home, a Car and Other Major PurchasesHow to price a large purchase by its full cost rather than its monthly payment, what to have in place before buying a home, how loan length changes the cost of a car, and how timing and patience strengthen your position.LIBRARY CHAPTEREnvelope Budgeting With Cash or AppsWhy a visible limit at the moment of spending works, how to run envelopes with cash, accounts or apps, and how sinking funds turn irregular bills into small monthly amounts.

Terms:Sinking fund Private mortgage insurance (PMI)CD ladder

Your savings against the cash you need, month by month

Your savingsCash needed

You start with $9,000, 7% of the $123,280 needed, and after a year you have $61,692; the line meets the target after 2 years 2 months.

What you would have to save each month to buy sooner

In 1 year12 months

$9k

In 2 years24 months

$5k

In 3 years36 months

$3k

In 5 years60 months

$2k

Your plan2 yr 2 mo

$4k

With $9,000 already saved and interest at 3.36% after tax, $9,355 a month gets you there in one year, $4,588 in two, $2,999 in three and $1,729 in five. You plan $4,300.

What each down payment costs to save, and in mortgage insurance

Down payment	Cash to save	Time to save	PMI a month
3%	$32,160	6 mo	$260
5%	$42,880	8 mo	$255
10%	$69,680	1 yr 2 mo	$241
20% (yours)	$123,280	2 yr 2 mo	None

At $536,000, 3% down needs $32,160 and takes 6 months, against $123,280 and 2 years 2 months for 20%. The smaller down payment adds about $260 a month of mortgage insurance (0.6% of the loan a year, an example), which ends when the loan falls to 78% of the price.

What moves the needle

Each row re-runs the calculation with one change. Click to apply.

How it's computed

FORMULA

Cash needed = price × (down payment % + closing cost %) + cash kept after closing

Monthly growth i = (1 + yearly yield × (1 − tax rate))^(1/12) − 1

Balance after n months = saved × (1 + i)^n + monthly × ((1 + i)^n − 1) ÷ i

Months to save = the smallest n whose balance reaches the cash needed = ⌈ ln((T + P ÷ i) ÷ (S + P ÷ i)) ÷ ln(1 + i) ⌉

Monthly saving to finish in n months = (T − S × (1 + i)^n) × i ÷ ((1 + i)^n − 1)

Closing costs are 3.0% of the price. Freddie Mac’s My Home guide says to expect 2% to 5%; your lender’s Loan Estimate has the real number.
Savings earn 4.42% a year, and the interest is taxed at 24% each year, so the account grows 3.36% a year after tax. Each month’s deposit is added at the end of the month, after that month’s interest. The starting 4.42% is the 26-week Treasury bill yield of September 29, 2026 as a yearly rate, an example rather than a forecast; a Treasury bill’s interest has no state tax.
The price, your monthly saving and the tax rate stay the same the whole time. In practice home prices move while you save, and raises, a new job or a change in rent change the monthly amount; rerun the page when they do.
Private mortgage insurance is estimated at 0.6% of the loan a year, an example inside Freddie Mac’s range of about $30 to $70 a month for every $100,000 borrowed. It applies only when the down payment is under 20%, and on a conventional loan it ends when the balance reaches 78% of the price.
Down payment assistance programs, gift funds, seller credits, moving costs and the reserves some lenders require are not counted, except the cash you choose to keep after closing.

WORKED EXAMPLE · SAMPLE NUMBERS

$536,000 × (20% + 3.0%) = $123,280. The account grows 3.359% a year after tax, which is 0.2757% a month. Starting from $9,000 with $4,300 a month, the balance reaches $125,407 in month 26 (2 years 2 months), which is the first month at or above $123,280: $9,000 + $111,800 of deposits + $4,607 of interest.

SOURCES

[1]What are closing costs and how much will I pay?Freddie Mac, My Home [2]Breaking down PMIFreddie Mac, My Home [3]Down payments & PMIFreddie Mac, My Home [4]Loans (FHA down payments as low as 3.5%)U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development [5]Daily Treasury Bill Rates (26-week coupon equivalent)U.S. Department of the Treasury [6]What is private mortgage insurance?Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

HSBuilt by Hussain Sehorewala · checked against worked examples · Sep 29, 2026

Keep this number honest as your life changes.

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Questions about this result

It depends on the price, the down payment and how much you can add each month. Divide the cash you still need by your monthly saving for a quick estimate; the interest your savings earn, after tax, shortens it a little. This page runs the account month by month and shows the month the balance reaches the cash needed.

The down payment plus closing costs, and ideally some cash left over afterward. Freddie Mac’s My Home guide says to expect closing fees of 2% to 5% of the purchase price; this page starts at 3% and lets you change it. Your lender’s Loan Estimate lists the real figure.

No. FHA loans allow a down payment as low as 3.5% (HUD), and Freddie Mac says a conventional down payment can be as low as 3% through its Home Possible or HomeOne loans, though most buyers put down 5% to 20%. Under 20% down a conventional loan usually carries private mortgage insurance, which Freddie Mac puts at about $30 to $70 a month for every $100,000 borrowed; it ends automatically when the scheduled balance reaches 78% of the original value. Freddie Mac notes that a smaller down payment lets you buy now instead of waiting five to ten years to save 20%.

Somewhere it will not lose value and can be taken out on the day you close: a savings account, certificate of deposit or Treasury bill. Interest is taxable, which this page counts. The HYSA vs T-bill page compares the two after tax.

Most planners say no: keep an emergency fund separate, because a new homeowner faces repairs and a mortgage payment on top of the old bills. Use the reserve field to leave cash in the bank after closing, and count only the savings you are willing to spend on the purchase.

Then the target moves away from you. This page holds the price fixed, so try a higher price in the first field to see how much later you would buy. If prices are rising faster than your savings, a smaller down payment can get you in sooner, at the cost of mortgage insurance.

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