Understanding financial goals
Goals in abda help you track your progress toward saving money or paying off debt — all in one place.
Whether you're building an emergency fund or paying off a credit card, abda's Goals feature gives you a clear picture of how you're doing and what's left.
Two kinds of goals
Save Up goals are for things you're saving money toward. For example:
- Emergency fund
- Down payment on a home
- Vacation
- New car
- Wedding
- Education
- Retirement
- General savings
Pay Down goals are for debt you're working to pay off. For example:
- Credit card balance
- Student loan
- Auto loan
- Personal loan
- Mortgage
- Medical debt
When you create a goal, you pick the kind that fits and abda takes care of the rest.
How progress tracking works
There are two ways abda can track how close you are to your goal:
- Connect your bank — If you link a bank account to a goal, abda checks your balance automatically and updates your progress for you. This is the easiest option.
- Update it yourself — You can also type in your current balance whenever it changes. This works great if you don't want to connect a bank.
What the status labels mean
Each goal gets a status so you can quickly see how things are going:
- On track — You're saving (or paying) enough each month to reach your goal on time
- At risk — You're a little behind, but still close. You may need to put in a bit more
- Behind — You're falling short of where you need to be. Time to adjust your plan
- Complete — You did it! You've reached your target amount
- No target — You haven't set a target amount or monthly plan yet
See the future with projections
The Projections tab on each goal shows a chart with three lines:
- What you've actually saved (or paid off) — based on your real balance history
- Where you're headed — a forecast based on how much you put in each month
- Where you need to be — a straight line from your starting point to your target
This makes it easy to see if you'll reach your goal on time or if you need to save a little more each month.
Your money stays yours
abda never moves your money. It only looks at your balances to track progress. You're always in full control of your accounts.
Can abda move money into my savings for me?
No. abda only tracks your progress. It never moves money or makes changes to your bank accounts.
Do I have to connect a bank account?
No. You can track any goal by updating your balance by hand. Connecting a bank just makes it automatic.
Can I have both Save Up and Pay Down goals at the same time?
Yes! You can create as many goals as you want in either category.