401K Calculator
Enter your current age, your retirement age, your 401(k) balance today and the annual return you expect. Then pick how you contribute. Monthly amount takes a dollar figure and a match on every dollar. Salary and capped match takes your salary, your contribution as a percentage of it, and an employer match that stops at a share of your pay, and it applies the 2026 IRS limits. The calculator works through one year at a time and shows the balance at retirement, your total contributions, the total employer match, the growth, and the balance at each age.
Your own assumption. Empty counts as no raise.
50 for 50 cents on the dollar, 100 for dollar for dollar.
From your plan. Contributions above this get no match.
How to use the 401K Calculator
- Enter your numbers in the 401K Calculator above.
- Press the Calculate button to see the result.
- To try other numbers, change any value and press the button again.
The 401(k) projection
Monthly amount, each year: Balance = Balance × (1 + r) + 12 × C + 12 × C × m Salary and capped match, each year: You = salary × contribution %, up to the IRS limit · · · Match = m × the smaller of You and salary × match limit % · · · Balance = Balance × (1 + r) + You + Match
r is the annual return, C is your monthly contribution and m is the employer match as a percentage of your contributions. The balance grows once a year, and the calculator adds the year's 12 contributions and the match at the end of that year, so money paid in during a year earns nothing until the next one. Total growth is the final balance minus the starting balance, your contributions and the match. In the salary mode the salary rises by your yearly raise after each year, and only the first $360,000 of it counts. Your own contributions stop at the IRS limit for the age you reach that year. The match stops where your contributions without catch-up plus the match reach $72,000 or your pay, whichever is less.
Worked example
Age 30, retiring at 65, with a $25,000 balance, $500 a month and a 50% match at a 7% return. Each year you add $6,000 and the employer adds $3,000. After 35 years the calculator shows a balance of $1,511,046.44, made up of $210,000 of your contributions, $105,000 of match and $1,171,046.44 of growth. The salary mode opens with a $60,000 salary, 3% raises, a 10% contribution and a 50% match that stops at 6% of salary, from the same age, balance and return. In year 1 you put in $6,000 and the employer adds 50% of $3,600, which is $1,800. After 35 years the balance is $1,800,144.75, made up of $362,772.49 of your contributions, $108,831.75 of match and $1,303,540.51 of growth.
Frequently asked questions
What's the 2026 401(k) contribution limit?
The IRS page on 401(k) limits (last reviewed April 8, 2026) gives $24,500 for your own contributions in 2026. If your plan permits catch-up contributions, you can add $8,000 if you are 50 or over at the end of the year, or $11,250 instead at ages 60 to 63. Your contributions without catch-up plus the employer's can reach $72,000 or 100% of your pay, whichever is less, and only $360,000 of pay counts. IRS Notice 2025-67 sets a 2025 wage threshold of $150,000 that decides whether catch-up contributions for 2026 must be Roth contributions. The calculator takes no tax off, so that does not change the balance it shows. The salary mode applies these figures to every year, though the IRS adjusts them over time and your plan can set lower ones. The monthly mode does not check them.
How does the calculator handle the employer match?
In the salary mode the employer pays the match percentage on what you contribute, up to the share of salary you enter. On a $60,000 salary with a 50% match that stops at 6%, contributing 4% brings $1,200 of match in year 1, and contributing 6% or more brings $1,800. Your plan document has your match formula. The monthly mode adds the match percentage of every dollar with no cap, so at 50% and $500 a month the employer adds $3,000 a year.
Roth or traditional 401(k)?
Traditional reduces taxes today; Roth pays them now in exchange for tax-free withdrawals later. Roth wins if you expect higher rates in retirement, traditional wins if you expect lower. The calculator takes no tax off, so it shows the same balance for both.