Short term can range from a few days to several weeks and even up to 6 months and medium term can range from 6 - 18 months. Obviously, short and medium terms are relative to how long it will take to achieve the overall goal. For example, if your goal is to save $50,000 for a deposit to buy a house in the next 5 years, then 6 monthly increments would be short term goals within the 5 year timeline. To stay on track, at each 6 months milestone, you would need to have saved another $5,000. This allows you to make quick adjustments to your plan if you haven't met on of the short term timeframes. If you remain on track for each short term goal, then you would reach $25,000 in savings which would be the medium term goal (in this instance) as it's the half way point