401(k) Calculator
Projected balance at retirement, with the employer match modelled properly
Your employer match, read off your plan document as “we match X% of your contribution, up to Y% of your pay”.
Optional. The deferral limits below are the IRS figures for 2025 and change most years, so edit them if you are projecting from a later one.
Year-by-year projection
| Age | Salary | You | Employer | Growth | End balance |
|---|
How to Use
- 1Enter your age, salary and what is in the account today.
- 2Set the percentage of salary you defer each payday.
- 3Copy the two match figures off your plan document.
- 4Check the match note, which tells you if you are leaving free money behind.
How the Match Works
- Your contributionSalary × your %
- Matched slicemin(your %, cap %)
- Employer paysSalary × matched % × match %
- Deferral limitCaps your side only
- GrowthMonthly, at the 12th root of 1+r
Quick Examples
Tap an example to load it above.
Everything about the 401(k) Calculator
Why the match matters more than the return, and what this projection does not include.
This 401(k) calculator projects your account forward to retirement, year by year, taking account of the three things that make a 401(k) different from an ordinary savings plan: contributions that rise with your salary, an employer match that is capped twice over, and the IRS limit on how much you can personally defer.
The headline figure is the projected balance on the day you retire. Underneath it, the tiles separate the money you paid in, the money your employer paid in, and the growth neither of you had to earn.
The match is the highest return you will ever get. A plan that matches 50% of your contribution is an instant 50% gain on that money, before a single day of investing. A dollar-for-dollar match is an instant 100%. No fund return competes with that, which is why contributing below the match cap is the one mistake this calculator shouts about.
Reading an employer match correctly
Plans are usually written as “we match X% of your contribution, up to Y% of your pay”. Those two numbers do very different jobs, and mixing them up is the most common error:
| Plan wording | You put in | Employer puts in | On $60,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50% up to 6% | 6% | 3% of salary | $3,600 + $1,800 |
| 50% up to 6% | 3% under-matched | 1.5% of salary | $1,800 + $900 |
| 50% up to 6% | 12% | Still 3% of salary | $7,200 + $1,800 |
| 100% up to 4% | 4% | 4% of salary | $2,400 + $2,400 |
Notice the third row: contributing double does not double the match. Everything above the cap is still saving, it is simply unmatched, so once you are at the cap, the next question is whether a 401(k) or an IRA is the better home for the extra.
The contribution limit, and why it is a field rather than a constant
The IRS caps elective deferrals, the money you defer from your own pay. For 2025 that limit is $23,500, with an extra $7,500 catch-up allowance from the year you turn 50. Employer money sits outside that limit, under a much higher combined cap.
These numbers change almost every year. They are editable fields here rather than hidden constants precisely so this page does not quietly go stale. If you are projecting from a later year, put that year's figures in. When the limit bites in any year, that row is marked capped in the table.
What raises the final number most
- 1Claim the whole match, first
Before anything else, contribute at least up to the cap. It is a guaranteed return that no investment choice can match, and the calculator quantifies exactly what you forgo if you do not.
- 2Start earlier rather than saving harder
Money paid in at 25 has forty years to compound; the same money at 45 has twenty. Load the “Starting at 25” example and compare it with the same contribution begun later. The gap is almost entirely growth.
- 3Raise the percentage, not the dollar amount
Because your contribution is a percentage of salary, every raise increases it automatically. Bumping the percentage by one point when you get a raise is close to painless and compounds for decades.
- 4Watch the fees on your funds
Expected return here is the return you actually keep. If your funds charge 0.7% a year, enter 6.3% rather than 7%, because over forty years that difference alone is worth six figures on a large balance.
Which of our calculators to use
Use this page when contributions are a percentage of a salary and an employer is matching them. Use the investment calculator when you are paying a fixed amount into a brokerage or ISA-style account with no employer involved, and the compound interest calculator when it is a single lump sum with no contributions at all and you need to control the compounding frequency.
What this projection deliberately leaves out
Three things, and they all matter. Tax: a traditional 401(k) is taxed on withdrawal, so the balance shown is pre-tax, and a Roth 401(k) is the reverse. Vesting: employer money is often only yours after a vesting schedule, typically graded over three to five years, so leaving early can forfeit some of it. Fees: subtract your fund's expense ratio from the expected return yourself.
The expected return is an assumption, not a forecast. Markets do not deliver a steady percentage every year, and the sequence in which good and bad years arrive changes the outcome. Treat the result as a planning estimate. This is not financial advice, and for decisions this size you should talk to a qualified adviser.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much will my 401(k) be worth at retirement?
Enter your age, retirement age, salary, current balance, contribution percentage and expected return, and the headline figure is the projected balance on the day you retire. It is built month by month rather than from a single formula, so the salary increases, the employer match cap and the IRS deferral limit are all applied in the year they actually bite.
What does "50% match up to 6%" actually mean?
It means your employer adds 50 cents for every dollar you contribute, but only on the first 6% of your salary. Contribute 6% of a $60,000 salary and you pay in $3,600 while your employer adds $1,800. Contribute 12% and you pay in $7,200 but the employer still adds only $1,800, because the cap is on the slice of salary that gets matched, not on your total.
How much should I contribute to get the full match?
At least the cap percentage your plan sets. If the plan is "50% up to 6%", contributing 6% claims every available dollar. Enter a lower figure and the calculator shows an amber note with the exact amount of employer money you forgo in the first year and across the whole projection, and that money is a guaranteed return no fund can match.
What is the 401(k) contribution limit?
For 2025 the IRS elective-deferral limit is $23,500, with an additional $7,500 catch-up allowance from the year you turn 50. That limit applies to your own contributions only, since employer match sits outside it under a much higher combined cap. Because these figures change most years, they are editable fields on this page rather than fixed constants, and any year where the limit binds is marked "capped" in the table.
Does the calculator account for pay rises?
Yes, and it is the main reason a 401(k) cannot be modelled as a flat monthly deposit. Your contribution is a percentage of salary, so a salary that grows 2% a year grows your contribution and your employer's match with it. The Salary field in the year-by-year table shows the figure each contribution is calculated from.
Should I use this or the investment calculator?
Use this page when your contributions are a percentage of a salary and an employer is matching them. Use the investment calculator when you are paying a fixed amount into an ordinary account with no employer involved, and the compound interest calculator when it is a single lump sum with no contributions and you need control over the compounding frequency.
Is the projected balance the amount I actually get to spend?
No. A traditional 401(k) is taxed as income when you withdraw it, so the figure shown is a pre-tax balance; a Roth 401(k) works the other way round. The projection also excludes fund fees, so subtract your expense ratio from the expected return, and it does not model the vesting schedule that often applies to employer contributions.
What is a vesting schedule?
It is the period you must stay employed before the employer's contributions are genuinely yours. Graded vesting typically hands over 25% a year across four years; cliff vesting gives you everything at once on a set date and nothing before it. Your own contributions are always 100% yours from day one. This calculator assumes the match is fully vested, so leaving early would reduce the real figure.