Calculator Tools
401(k) Calculator
Project your 401(k) balance at retirement with employer match, salary growth, expected return, and inflation. Year-by-year breakdown in your browser.
Your 401(k) inputs
Every field stays in your browser. No salary, contribution, or balance figure is sent to a server.
Compounding raise. Use 0 for a flat salary.
Historic broad-market average is around 7% real or 10% nominal. Use what your plan documents and risk tolerance suggest.
Contribution and employer match
Match is stated the way most plans describe it: a percent of your contribution, up to a cap stated as a percent of salary. Example: a “100% match on the first 4%” is 100 in the match field and 4 in the cap field.
Used to also show the final balance in today's dollars. Set to 0 to ignore inflation.
Projection
35 years of compounding from age 30 to 65.
Projected balance at age 65
$2,325,388
In future dollars at retirement. In today's purchasing power that is roughly $979,851.
Your contributions
$386,957
Sum of every paycheck deferral over the projection.
Employer match
$193,479
Free money from the company match. Always at least vest the match.
Investment growth
$1,719,952
Returns earned on contributions and the starting balance.
Year-by-year breakdown
Showing every 5th year plus the first and last. Toggle to see all years.
| Year | Age | Salary | You | Employer | Growth | Ending balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 31 | $80,000 | $6,400 | $3,200 | $2,121 | $36,721 |
| 5 | 35 | $90,041 | $7,203 | $3,602 | $6,074 | $96,006 |
| 10 | 40 | $104,382 | $8,351 | $4,175 | $13,447 | $206,312 |
| 15 | 45 | $121,007 | $9,681 | $4,840 | $24,669 | $373,868 |
| 20 | 50 | $140,280 | $11,222 | $5,611 | $41,471 | $624,364 |
| 25 | 55 | $162,624 | $13,010 | $6,505 | $66,326 | $994,501 |
| 30 | 60 | $188,525 | $15,082 | $7,541 | $102,760 | $1,536,640 |
| 35 | 65 | $218,552 | $17,484 | $8,742 | $155,802 | $2,325,388 |
Common scenarios
Tap any scenario to load it into the calculator. Tweak from there to match your own plan.
IRS contribution limits
Reference only. These are the employee elective deferral caps; total plan limits (employee + employer) are higher. Catch-up applies to age 50 and above.
| Tax year | Employee limit | Catch-up (age 50+) | Total at 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $23,000 | $7,500 | $30,500 |
| 2025 | $23,500 | $7,500 | $31,000 |
| 2026 | $24,500 | $8,000 | $32,500 |
How the math works
- Monthly compounding. The balance grows by r/12 each month, then your contribution and the employer match are added. Twelve months equals one simulated year.
- Employer match formula. Match dollars equal salary times the smaller of (your contribution percent) or (the match cap percent), multiplied by the match rate. A 100% match capped at 4% of salary means you get 4% of salary from the employer when you contribute at least 4% yourself.
- Salary growth.Salary compounds annually. Each new year multiplies last year's salary by 1 plus the growth rate.
- Today's dollars. The real balance divides the nominal balance by (1 + inflation) raised to the number of years elapsed. This shows roughly what the future balance would buy at today's prices.
Tips and limits
- At minimum, contribute up to the full employer match. Anything less is leaving free money on the table.
- 7% is a common nominal-but-conservative long-term equity return. 10% nominal is closer to the historic S&P 500 average; 7% real accounts for inflation.
- Inflation typically averages 2 to 3% over long periods. The real balance is what actually matters for spending power in retirement.
- Limits shown are employee elective deferral only. Roth 401(k) shares the same limit. Total plan limits (your contribution plus employer contributions) are higher and set separately by the IRS.
- This calculator does not include taxes, early-withdrawal penalties, fees, vesting schedules, or required minimum distributions. It models account growth, not after-tax spending power.
How to use
- Enter your current age, target retirement age, current 401(k) balance, and annual salary.
- Set your contribution as a percent of salary, then describe the employer match: the match percent (for example 100 for a full match) and the cap as a percent of salary (for example 4 for a 100% match on the first 4%).
- Pick an expected annual return, an annual salary growth rate, and an optional inflation rate for the today's-dollars view. Toggle Cap at IRS limit if you want the contribution clipped at the current employee deferral cap.
- Read the projected balance at retirement, the split between your contributions, employer match, and investment growth, and the composition bar that shows where the balance came from.
- Scan the year-by-year breakdown (expand to every year for full detail), tap any preset to load a common scenario, or use Copy summary to grab the full result for sharing or notes.
About this tool
401(k) Calculator projects your retirement balance month by month from your current age to your target retirement age. It models a starting balance, your annual salary with a compounding growth rate, a contribution as a percent of pay, and an employer match stated the way real plans describe it (for example a 100% match on the first 4% of salary). Returns compound monthly at your expected annual rate, and an optional inflation rate translates the future balance into today's dollars so the number you read actually reflects the spending power you will have. A year-by-year table shows salary, your contribution, the employer match, investment growth, and the ending balance for every year, with a compact view that highlights every five years and the final year for long projections. A composition bar splits the final balance into starting balance, your contributions, employer match, and investment growth so you can see how much of the total came from compounding rather than from paychecks. IRS employee elective deferral limits for 2024, 2025, and 2026 are listed for reference, and an optional cap clips your annual contribution at the current limit (with the age 50+ catch-up applied automatically when your age reaches 50 during the projection). Currency selection covers USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, JPY, INR, and TRY for display formatting through Intl.NumberFormat with no FX conversion. Useful for new hires deciding how much to defer, mid-career savers comparing match levels between job offers, late starters running catch-up scenarios, and anyone modeling "how much will my 401(k) be worth at 65" without giving a salary figure to a marketing funnel. Every number you type stays in your browser; nothing is sent to a server. This calculator does not include taxes, vesting schedules, fees, or required minimum distributions; it models account growth, not after-tax spending power.
Free to use. Works in your browser. No signup, no login.
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