💼 401(k) Retirement Calculator
See how your 401(k) grows with employer match, salary increases, and decades of compounding. USA — 2026 IRS limits applied.
A 401(k) calculator projects how large your workplace retirement account could grow by modelling three things together: the money you contribute, your employer's matching contributions, and decades of compounding investment returns. Enter your salary, the percentage of pay you defer, your employer's match formula, and an expected annual growth rate, and it returns a year-by-year balance through to your target retirement age.
The projection compounds each year's closing balance forward at your chosen growth rate, adds the next year's employee and employer contributions, and can grow those contributions in line with annual salary increases. It assumes a steady average return rather than real-world market swings, and treats contributions as traditional pre-tax deferrals unless you model Roth treatment separately. Investment fees drag on real-world results, so entering a slightly lower growth rate is a sensible, conservative habit.
Worked example. Suppose you are 35, earn $70,000, contribute 10% of salary ($7,000 a year), and your employer matches 50% of the first 6% you defer (an extra $2,100 a year). At a 7% average annual return, that roughly $9,100 of yearly contributions compounds to approaching $900,000 by age 65 — and well over half of that final balance is investment growth, not the cash you put in. Raising your contribution to 15%, or working three more years, each move the result by a six-figure amount: that sensitivity is exactly what this tool is built to show.
Contribution limits are set by the IRS and change most years; this calculator applies the limit shown in the inputs and FAQ below — confirm the current figure with the IRS before relying on it. Projections are illustrative estimates for education only, not financial advice.
| Year | Age | Salary | Employee Contrib | Employer Match | Year-End Balance |
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How to use this calculator
Takes about 2 minutes.
- Enter your annual salary
- Set your contribution % and your employer's match formula
- Add your current 401(k) balance and your age
- Pick a target retirement age and expected return
- Review your projected balance, total contributions, and employer match
Try these scenarios
Tap a scenario to load it into the calculator above.
Methodology & Sources
This calculator projects your 401(k) balance year by year. Each year: employee contribution = salary × contribution %, capped at the IRS elective deferral limit (with catch-up from age 50). Employer match = (salary × match cap %) × match %, capped so total additions do not exceed the IRS combined limit. Year-end balance = prior balance × (1 + return) + contributions × (1 + return ÷ 2), which approximates mid-year contribution timing. Salary grows at the chosen annual rate.
IRS limits hard-coded for 2026: $23,500 employee elective deferral, $7,500 catch-up (age 50+), $70,000 total additions cap. These are refreshed every January against the official IRS notice.
- USA: IRS — 401(k) and Profit-Sharing Plan Contribution Limits
- USA: IRS — Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Retirement Items
Last verified: May 2026.
Key concepts
Employer match is free money. A typical match is 50-100% of your contribution up to 3-6% of salary. Not contributing enough to capture the full match is a guaranteed loss — there's no investment that beats an instant 50-100% return.
IRS contribution limits. For 2026 the employee elective deferral limit is $23,500 (IRS); ages 50+ can add a $7,500 catch-up. The total annual contribution cap (employee + employer) is $70,000 for 2026.
SECURE 2.0 enhanced catch-up (ages 60–63). Section 109 of SECURE 2.0 raised the catch-up to $11,250 for the four-year window covering ages 60, 61, 62, and 63 (effective 1 January 2025) — that's the greater of $10,000 or 150% of the standard catch-up. The year you turn 64, the catch-up reverts to the standard $7,500 amount.
Traditional vs. Roth 401(k). Traditional contributions reduce today's taxable income; withdrawals in retirement are taxed as ordinary income. Roth contributions are post-tax now; qualified withdrawals are tax-free. The right choice depends on whether your retirement tax bracket will be higher or lower than today's.
Vesting schedules. Employer match contributions may vest over 2-6 years. Leave before fully vested and you forfeit the unvested portion. Always check your plan's vesting schedule before changing jobs.
Early-withdrawal penalty. Withdrawals before age 59½ trigger a 10% federal penalty plus income tax (unless qualifying exceptions apply: hardship, separation from service at 55+, Rule of 55). Required Minimum Distributions start at age 73.
Worked example — capturing the full match at $95,000 salary
A 34-year-old earns $95,000 in a tech-adjacent role with a typical "50% match up to 6%" plan. Current 401(k) balance is $80,000 — close to the Vanguard How America Saves 2024 median for that age band. The aim is to retire at 65, so the projection runs 31 years. Assume the IRS contribution cap rises with inflation (it sat at $23,500 for 2026 per the IRS Notice), 2% annual salary growth, and a 7% nominal return — the long-run S&P 500 real average is around 7% and nominal closer to 10%, so 7% is a deliberately cautious planning input.
Contributing 10% of salary means $9,500 in year one. The employer adds 3% of salary ($2,850) because 6% × 50% = 3% — that's the full available match. Combined first-year contribution is $12,350. After 31 years at 7%, the existing $80,000 grows to roughly $640,000 on its own; the ongoing contributions add about $1.05 million on top, giving a projected balance just over $1.69 million in nominal dollars. In today's money at 2.5% inflation, that lands near $790,000.
Now drop the contribution from 10% to 5%. The employee still gets some match, but only $2,375 of it — half the available employer money is left on the table. The projected balance falls to about $1.13 million nominal, a $560,000 gap. The difference is not just the missing employee contributions ($230,000 over 31 years); it's also the $230,000 in forfeited employer match and three decades of compounding on both. That gap is why "contribute at least to the full match" is universal advice.
Common mistakes
- Front-loading contributions before checking the true-up rule. Some plans only match per pay period — if you hit the $23,500 limit in October, no match runs in November and December. Other plans "true-up" at year-end. Read your plan document before maxing out early in the year.
- Defaulting into the target-date fund without checking the fee. Many plans default new hires into a TDF charging 0.5-0.75% when an equivalent low-cost index option in the same plan charges 0.04%. Over 30 years a 0.5% fee drag costs roughly 13% of the final balance.
- Cashing out at job change. IRS data shows roughly 40% of workers under 35 cash out their 401(k) when they leave a job. A $25,000 balance loses about $9,000 to federal tax plus the 10% early-withdrawal penalty — and forfeits 30 years of compounding that would have turned it into $200,000.
- Forgetting the SECURE 2.0 super catch-up. From age 60 to 63 the catch-up jumps to $11,250, then drops back to $7,500 at 64. Four years of higher catch-up is worth nearly $40,000 extra contribution capacity — easy to miss because the rule sunsets each year you age out.
- Holding more than 10% in employer stock. Concentrated single-stock risk plus correlation between your job and your retirement portfolio is the worst possible diversification. Sell down to under 10% of the 401(k) — most plans allow this in-kind without selling externally.
Frequently Asked Questions
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