Gusto kong mag-ipon.

Kong is ko plus the linker -ng.

• ko = first-person genitive pronoun, often translated as my / me / I, depending on the structure
• -ng = a linker that connects gusto ko to the following word or phrase

So:

• Gusto ko. = I want it / I like it
• Gusto kong mag-ipon. = I want to save

Here, the linker shows that another idea follows after gusto ko.

Because gusto normally takes a genitive pronoun, not a nominative one.

So you say:

• gusto ko = I want / I like
• gusto mo = you want / you like
• gusto niya = he/she wants / likes

Not gusto ako.

This is one of those Filipino patterns you mainly learn as a set expression: gusto + genitive pronoun.

Mag-ipon is the basic actor-focus verb form of ipon.

• ipon is the root
• mag- is a common verb prefix

In this sentence, mag-ipon works like to save or to save up in English.

After gusto, Filipino commonly uses this kind of basic verb form:

• Gusto kong kumain = I want to eat
• Gusto kong matulog = I want to sleep
• Gusto kong mag-ipon = I want to save

The hyphen is used because the prefix mag- is attached to a root that begins with a vowel.

• mag- + ipon → mag-ipon

You see the same pattern in words like:

• mag-aral
• mag-ayos
• mag-isip

So the hyphen is just standard spelling here.

Not exactly. Filipino verbs are usually described more in terms of aspect than tense.

Here, mag-ipon is the basic or infinitive-like form used after gusto.

Related forms include:

• nag-ipon = saved / did save
• nag-iipon = is saving / was saving
• mag-iipon = will save

But after gusto, the basic form mag-ipon is the normal choice:

• Gusto kong mag-ipon = I want to save

Ipon can mean savings, something accumulated, or the idea of collecting/setting aside something.

So mag-ipon can mean:

• to save up
• to accumulate
• to put something aside

In everyday use, it very often refers to saving money, but the root is a little broader than that.

Because it does not have to. In Filipino, mag-ipon often already suggests saving up money, especially in ordinary conversation.

If you want to make it explicit, you can say:

• Gusto kong mag-ipon ng pera. = I want to save money.

Without ng pera, the meaning is still natural if the context is clear.

No. In kong, the -ng is a linker, not the separate particle ng.

So this is:

• ko + -ng → kong

It is different from the standalone ng, which often marks objects or other relationships, as in:

• mag-ipon ng pera = save money

So in this sentence:

• kong = ko plus linker
• ng in ng pera would be a separate grammatical marker

In standard Filipino, Gusto kong mag-ipon is the form learners should use.

The linker is expected when gusto ko is directly followed by another word or phrase that it connects to.

So:

• Gusto ko. = fine if the sentence stops there
• Gusto kong mag-ipon. = standard when another phrase follows

You may hear linker dropping in very casual speech, but gusto kong is the safest and most correct form to learn.

Here it most naturally means want.

Gusto can cover both like and want, depending on the structure and context. When it is followed by a verb like mag-ipon, it usually means want to:

• Gusto kong mag-ipon. = I want to save

If it were followed by a thing or noun phrase, it could often mean like or want, depending on context.

Yes, that is the normal interpretation here.

• ko marks the person who wants
• mag-ipon is understood as the action that same person wants to do

So Gusto kong mag-ipon naturally means I want to save, not I want someone else to save.

If you wanted to make someone else the saver, the sentence would need a different structure.