401(k) Calculator
A $60,000 salary with a 10% employee contribution and a 50% match on the first 6% adds $7,800 to the account in the first projected year. This 401(k) calculator estimates a retirement balance from current balance, salary, contribution rate, employer match, annual return, and salary growth. It separates employee contributions, employer match, and calculated investment growth. The projection uses one return and one raise assumption for every annual step. It grows the opening balance, adds that year's contributions at year-end, and raises salary for the next step. It does not enforce federal plan limits or model payroll dates, vesting forfeitures, taxes, fees, inflation, changing allocations, or variable market returns.
Quick answer
Your balance grows each year from contributions plus investment returns.
What this tells you
- •Your balance grows each year from contributions plus investment returns.
- •The employer match adds free money on top of what you put in, up to a salary-based cap.
- •More annual steps give earlier balances more time to compound, but the result still depends on the assumptions entered.
- •Employer match equals salary times the lower of contribution rate or match limit, then times the employer match rate.
- •Contributions enter at the end of each modeled year, so they do not receive that year's assumed return.
- •The age difference rounds to a whole number of annual steps, and all four result amounts display to 2 decimals.
How to Use
- 1Enter your current age and the age you plan to retire.
- 2Enter your current 401(k) balance and annual salary.
- 3Set the percent of salary you contribute.
- 4Enter the employer match rate and the salary cap it applies to.
- 5Adjust the nonnegative expected return and optional nonnegative raise rate, then calculate.
- 6Compare your contribution and match assumptions with the current plan document, payroll election, vesting schedule, and applicable legal limits.
- 7Run several return and salary scenarios instead of treating one projection as a forecast or guaranteed retirement amount.
How It Works
Formula
Employee Contribution = Salary x Contribution %
Matched % = min(Contribution %, Match Limit %)
Employer Match = Salary x Matched % x Match Rate
Each year: Balance = Balance x (1 + Return) + ContributionsThe calculator rounds retirement age minus current age to a whole number of annual steps. At the start of each step, it multiplies the existing balance by 1 plus the assumed return. It then adds employee contribution equal to salary times contribution percent. Employer match equals salary times the smaller of contribution percent and match-limit percent, multiplied by match rate. Salary grows only after those contributions, so the raise affects the next step. For a $60,000 salary, 10% contribution, and 50% match up to 6%, employee contribution is $6,000 and match is $1,800. The first-year total is $7,800. Contributions are modeled at year-end rather than by paycheck.
Calculation note: values are processed in the order shown above, using the current input units.
Worked Examples
Age 30 to 65, 50% match up to 6%
Match only, contributing 6%
Two-year timing example
Year 1 grows $1,000 to $1,100, then adds $5,000 employee and $2,500 employer contributions for $8,600. Year 2 grows that to $9,460 and adds another $7,500, ending at $16,960.
Match capped below contribution rate
Employee contribution is $10,000. The match applies to 6% of salary, or $6,000, at a 50% rate, giving $3,000. The calculator adds $13,000 for the year.
No employer match
Five percent of $80,000 is $4,000. A zero match rate contributes nothing from the employer, so the one-year balance is the employee amount when starting balance and return are zero.
Common Employer Match Formulas
What a few standard 401(k) match offers add per year on a $60,000 salary.
| Match Formula | You Contribute | Annual Match | Match Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50% up to 6% | 6% ($3,600) | $1,800 | Partial match |
| 100% up to 4% | 4% ($2,400) | $2,400 | Full match |
| 100% up to 6% | 6% ($3,600) | $3,600 | Full match |
| 50% up to 6% | 3% ($1,800) | $900 | Below the cap |
The table shows formula arithmetic only. Eligibility, payroll definitions, annual limits, true-up rules, and vesting come from the plan document.
How a 401(k) employer match works
An employer match means your company adds money to your 401(k) based on what you contribute. A common formula is 50% up to 6% of pay, which means the employer adds 50 cents for every dollar you contribute, but only on the first 6% of your salary. Contribute that 6% and you collect the full match. Contribute less and you leave free money on the table.
A match can increase account contributions, but eligibility and vesting matter. Some plans calculate match each payroll period, use a year-end true-up, exclude some compensation, or require employment on a certain date. The calculator does not model those provisions.
Employee deferral limits, catch-up rules, compensation caps, and combined contribution limits can change. This tool applies the percentages entered even when the result would exceed a legal or plan limit. Check current plan and tax guidance before using the contribution totals for a decision.
Traditional and Roth 401(k) contributions have different current-tax treatment, but this projection does not calculate taxes now or at withdrawal. It reports a nominal account balance before any future tax, fee, inflation, or distribution effect.
Common mistakes
- Contributing less than the match cap and missing free money
- Assuming a fixed return every year, which real markets do not deliver
- Forgetting that matched dollars may be subject to a vesting schedule
- Ignoring fees, which reduce the account balance over time
- Entering a match formula without checking eligibility, true-up, compensation, and vesting terms
- Assuming the calculator will cap contributions at current legal or plan limits
- Reading the nominal projected balance as today's spending power without adjusting for inflation
- Using one fixed return as a guarantee even though investment results vary and losses can occur
Limitations
This calculator uses a simplified annual model. It rounds the age difference to whole annual steps, grows the opening balance first, adds contributions at year-end, and applies salary growth for the next year. It requires nonnegative return and raise assumptions, so it cannot model a negative-return year or a variable sequence of returns. It does not enforce employee deferral, catch-up, compensation, employer, or combined plan limits. It does not model payroll frequency, contribution timing, true-ups, eligibility, vesting forfeiture, loans, hardship withdrawals, rollovers, fees, taxes, Roth versus traditional treatment, required distributions, inflation, investment allocation, market volatility, or sequence risk. Employer plan terms and current law control actual contributions and ownership.
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