401(k) Calculator
Project your 401(k) balance at retirement with employer match.
What this calculator does
This 401(k) calculator projects your workplace plan balance at retirement, including the employer match. You enter your age, retirement age, salary, the percentage you defer, your employer's match, and your current balance, and it returns the projected balance, your annual contribution, and the annual employer match, alongside a year-by-year table splitting balance into contributions and growth.
The employer match deserves separate attention, which is why it is broken out as its own result. It is the only investment return that is guaranteed and immediate, and over a full career it routinely accounts for a quarter or more of the final balance without costing you anything beyond contributing enough to earn it.
When to use it
Open enrollment is the obvious moment, along with any raise, since a deferral set as a percentage of salary rises automatically with pay while a flat dollar amount does not. Running your current percentage against one or two points higher shows what a change you would barely notice in take-home pay does across thirty years.
It is also worth running when you start a new job and are deciding how much to defer, or when comparing two offers where one has a 6 percent match and the other has 3. That difference is real compensation and this calculator converts it into a retirement-age number you can weigh against the salary difference.
Understanding the inputs
Enter salary as gross pay, since deferrals are usually calculated on it. Your contribution is a percentage of that salary, and the employer match percentage should reflect what your plan actually delivers rather than the headline: a plan matching 50 percent up to 6 percent of pay is effectively a 3 percent employer contribution once you defer 6.
Current balance should include any rolled-in amounts from previous employers held in this plan. If those sit in a separate IRA, project them elsewhere. Watch the $23,500 deferral limit: on a $200,000 salary, deferring 15 percent would exceed it, and this calculator does not cap your entry automatically.
How is this calculated?
FV = PV(1+r)^n + PMT×[(1+r)^n − 1]/r. Annual Contribution = Salary × Your % + min(Salary × Your %, Salary × Match Limit) × Employer Match %.
A worked example
A 30-year-old earning $75,000 with $40,000 already in the plan defers 6 percent, which is $4,500 a year, and receives a 3 percent employer contribution worth $2,250. That is $6,750 a year, or $562.50 a month. At 7 percent, the balance reaches roughly $1,473,000 by age 65.
Strip out the match and the same projection lands near $1,136,000, so the employer's $2,250 a year is worth about $337,000 by retirement. Raising the deferral from 6 to 10 percent, which adds $3,000 a year of your own money, lifts the projection to roughly $1,924,000.
Limitations and assumptions
This is a projection under fixed assumptions, not a prediction of your balance. It applies a constant return every year and a constant salary throughout, so real raises, job changes, contribution holidays, and market volatility are all absent. Sequence-of-returns risk means a poor market in the years right before retirement can move the outcome far more than the average return suggests.
It also assumes immediate vesting, ignores plan fees unless you deduct them from the return yourself, does not apply IRS contribution limits, and does not model the tax owed on Traditional withdrawals or the required minimum distributions that start at 73. Treat the result as a range indicator, not a number to plan a specific retirement date around.
Common Questions
- How much can I contribute to a 401(k) in 2025?
- The elective deferral limit is $23,500. From age 50 you can add a $7,500 catch-up, and under SECURE 2.0 those aged 60 to 63 get an enhanced catch-up of $11,250 instead. The combined employee and employer limit is $70,000, or $77,500 including the standard catch-up.
- How does an employer match actually work?
- The most common structure is a full or partial match up to a percentage of salary, such as 50 percent of what you put in up to 6 percent of pay. On a $75,000 salary that is worth $2,250 a year if you contribute at least 6 percent. Contributing less leaves part of that on the table permanently.
- Should I contribute beyond the match?
- Usually yes, once high-interest debt is cleared and you hold an emergency fund. Above the match the 401(k) competes with an IRA, which typically offers wider fund choice and lower fees. A common order is match first, then IRA to its $7,000 limit, then back to the 401(k) up to $23,500.
- Traditional or Roth 401(k)?
- Traditional deferrals cut your taxable income now and are taxed on withdrawal. Roth deferrals are taxed now and come out tax-free. The deciding question is whether your marginal rate in retirement will be higher or lower than today. Early-career and lower-bracket savers usually favor Roth; high earners in peak years usually favor Traditional.
- What is vesting and does this calculator model it?
- Vesting is how long you must stay before the employer match is yours to keep. Cliff vesting hands it over all at once, often at three years; graded vesting phases it in over up to six. This calculator assumes immediate vesting, so if you plan to leave early, discount the match portion accordingly.
- What happens to my 401(k) if I change jobs?
- You can leave it, roll it into your new employer's plan, or roll it into an IRA. Direct rollovers avoid the mandatory 20 percent withholding that applies to indirect ones. Cashing out is the expensive option: income tax plus a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty before 59 and a half.
- Do plan fees matter much over 35 years?
- Enormously. An expense ratio difference of 0.75 percent compounds into a six-figure gap on a seven-figure balance. Check your plan's fund lineup for index options, which often run under 0.10 percent, and read the annual fee disclosure for administrative charges taken separately from fund expenses.
- Can I borrow from my 401(k)?
- Most plans allow loans of up to 50 percent of your vested balance to a $50,000 maximum, repaid over five years. The repayments go back to your own account, but the borrowed money is out of the market while it is gone, and leaving your job often makes the balance due quickly.
- When do I have to start taking money out?
- Required minimum distributions begin at age 73 under SECURE 2.0, rising to 75 for those born in 1960 or later. Roth 401(k)s no longer carry RMDs during the owner's lifetime. Traditional balances do, and a large one can push you into a higher bracket in your seventies, which is worth planning for.
- What return should I use in the projection?
- Seven percent nominal is a common planning figure for a stock-heavy portfolio after fees, though many plans default you into a target-date fund that becomes more conservative near retirement. If yours does, a blended 6 to 6.5 percent across a full career is a more honest input than 7.