Savings fund

A fund with a target and a date can be paced: the cost divided by the months left. A $9,000 roof due in 18 months is $500 a month. When the bill arrives, it is paid from the fund.

A fund is a purpose; an account is where the money sits. A fund can sit in an account of its own or share one with other funds. When several funds share an account, the split between them exists only in the records: the institution reports one balance.

Not every fund saves toward a known cost. The CFPB defines an emergency fund as “a cash reserve that’s specifically set aside for unplanned expenses or financial emergencies.”

A roof replacement is quoted at $9,000, due in 18 months. At $500 a month, the fund reaches $9,000 in 18 months.

Twelve months in, $6,000 is set aside. The remaining $3,000, at $500 a month, takes six more months.

Target

$9,000

Already set aside

− $6,000

Still to set aside

$3,000

Monthly contribution

÷ $500

Months to the target

6

A fund with a target and a date turns one large payment into a series of smaller ones made before the bill, not after it. The months to the target are what's left to save divided by the monthly amount, so a smaller contribution or a later start moves the finish date later.

When the expense arrives, it is paid from money already set aside.

On Savings, Taiga Finance lists each fund as a row: its name, a progress meter, the balance and a status chip. A fund whose balance reaches its target reads “Funded”, and one whose balance is below zero reads “Overspent”. A fund with a target and a monthly contribution shows the month that contribution reaches the target, such as “~Mar 2027”, with “· after date” added when that month falls after the fund's target month; a fund with a target month and no monthly contribution shows the target month, such as “By Jun 2027”. After “Switch to spending”, the chip states the time left to the target month, such as “3 mo left”, then “Spent” at zero or “Over budget” below it.

A fund is a claim on part of a real account's balance. Spending tagged to a fund with “Funded by” lowers its balance, and for a fund on a fixed allocation the drawer lays the sum out term by term: Allocated, minus Outstanding and Settled spending, equals Balance. The monthly contribution is a savings line on the Plan, and the projected month is worked from it.

For a fund on a fixed allocation, “Switch to spending” in the drawer freezes the balance as a budget, and the drawer then reads Budget at start, minus Spent, equals Remaining.