401(k) Calculator
See your 401(k) balance at retirement, split into your own deposits, employer match and growth.
Reviewed by Associate Professor Charles Lo, CPA, PhD · Updated October 13, 2026Free, no signup
Your 401(k) assumptions
Use annual salary and contribution percentages. The model applies the 2026 employee deferral and catch-up limits.
Illustration from your inputs, not live data or a forecast. Salary grows yearly; deposits arrive monthly after growth at annual return ÷ 12. The 2026 contribution limits stay fixed for future years. Balance is in future dollars before tax, fees and inflation; vesting and plan-specific rules are excluded. Full method · IRS limits.
| Age | Salary | You | Employer | End balance |
|---|
Educational estimate only. Uses constant returns and fixed 2026 contribution limits; the projected balance is in future dollars. Your plan terms control.
Try it with a real example
- Start with the match. Compare Employer match with Your contributions. If your rate is below the match limit, you are leaving part of your pay on the table.
- Growth is the biggest bar for most people. In the default, $1,365,293 of the $1,941,001 total is growth. That part depends on the return you type, so it is the least certain.
- Read the Limit check line. If it says your contribution was capped, raising your percentage further changes nothing in this estimate.
Save and Restore require Preferences consent and keep nine projection inputs locally. Links contain the two ages, balance, salary, contribution, return, match and salary-growth assumptions. Use hypothetical examples for public sharing. Account identifiers, holdings, documents and form fields are excluded; keep real financial details in local storage or a private CSV.
What is a 401(k) calculator?
A 401(k) calculator estimates how much your workplace retirement account could hold when you stop working.
A 401(k) is a retirement account your employer offers. You choose a percentage of each paycheck to put in, and many employers add a match on top. The money is invested, usually in funds, and grows until retirement.
This calculator raises your salary each year, takes your chosen percentage, adds your employer’s match, and grows the balance month by month. It also holds your deposits to the 2026 limits written into its code and shows a year by year table, so you can see exactly where the ending number comes from.
Darnell is 24, earns $52,000 and puts 6% of his pay into his 401(k). His employer matches 100% up to 4% of salary. In year one he adds $3,120 and his employer adds $2,080. With 3% raises and a 7% return, the calculator shows $2,101,091 at age 67. Darnell paid in $266,710 of that himself. His employer added $177,806.
- Projects your 401(k) balance at the retirement age you choose
- Splits the total into your money, employer match and growth
- Caps your deposits at the 2026 limits, including catch up amounts
- Shows a year by year table of salary, deposits and balance
For anyone choosing a savings rate or checking whether they get the full match. New to a term on this page? The investment glossary defines it in a sentence.
How much will my 401(k) be worth when I retire?
With this calculator’s default, a 35 year old earning $85,000 who saves 10% with a 50% match up to 6% reaches $1,941,001 at 65 at a 7% return. Change the return to 5% and it drops to $1,313,614. Your own number depends on your savings rate, your match, your return and how many years you have, so enter them above and try a few return rates.
- Enter
- Age, salary, savings rate, employer match, return
- Method
- Monthly compounding, salary raised yearly
- Tax rules
- 2026 IRS limits, $24,500 plus catch ups
- Cost
- Free, no signup, no account
What do the 401(k) results mean?
What the account could hold at your retirement age, before income tax and fund fees. It is in future dollars, so it will buy less than the same amount does today.
Your contributions are the dollars taken from your pay. Employer match is what your company adds for free. New contributions in the bar chart is the two added together.
Each row is one year. The Age column shows your age at the end of that year, so the first row for a 35 year old reads 36. Watch the You column flatten when you hit the limit.
A 50% match up to 6% only pays on what you put in. In the default plan, saving 3% collects $60,659 of employer money over 30 years. Saving 6% collects $121,317. Before you change anything else, set Your contribution to at least the Match up to salary figure.
How does the 401(k) calculator work?
For each year it grows your salary by the raise you entered, then multiplies it by your contribution rate. That amount is capped at $24,500, or $32,500 from age 50 and $35,750 at ages 60 to 63. The match is your salary times the smaller of your rate and the match limit, times the match rate. Employer money is kept under a $72,000 yearly total.
The year’s deposits are spread over 12 months. Each month the balance earns one twelfth of the yearly return, then the monthly deposit goes in. The limits stay at 2026 levels for every future year.
Year one of the default plan
| Your deposit | $85,000 × 10% | $8,500 |
| Employer match | $85,000 × 6% × 50% | $2,550 |
| Growth in year one | 7% a year, added monthly | $3,976 |
| End balance | $50,000 + $8,500 + $2,550 + $3,976 | $65,026 |
The match is based on 6% of salary, not 10%, because the employer only matches up to 6%. The extra 4% you save still grows, but nobody adds to it.
What changes my 401(k) balance the most?
The default plan (age 35, $85,000 salary, $50,000 balance, retire at 65), changed one thing at a time.
| Change one thing | Balance at 65 | Employer match |
|---|---|---|
| Default: save 10%, 7% return | $1,941,001 | $121,317 |
| Save 3% instead | $937,232 | $60,659 |
| Save 6%, just enough for the full match | $1,468,639 | $121,317 |
| Return of 5% instead of 7% | $1,313,614 | $121,317 |
| No employer match at all | $1,586,730 | $0 |
Going from 3% to 6% more than doubles the match. After 6%, every extra dollar is yours alone, which is still worth a lot over 30 years.
What could make my real 401(k) different?
The tool uses one steady return. Real markets rise and fall, and a bad run near retirement hurts more than one early on. The return simulator shows a range of results.
Results are before income tax and fund fees. Traditional 401(k) withdrawals are taxed as income. Some employers also make you stay a set time before the match is fully yours. Your plan documents have the rules.
Your salary grows each year, but the limits stay at 2026 levels. The IRS usually raises them over time, so high earners may be able to save more than shown. The inflation calculator puts the total in today’s dollars.
401(k) Calculator FAQ
How much should I put in my 401(k)?
At the very least, enough to get the full employer match. With a 50% match up to 6%, saving 6% instead of 3% raises the default match from $60,659 to $121,317 over 30 years. Many people then aim higher as their pay grows. Try your own rate above and watch the Employer match figure.
What is the 401(k) contribution limit for 2026?
This calculator uses $24,500 as the 2026 employee limit. People aged 50 or older can add an $8,000 catch up, for $32,500 in total. At ages 60 to 63 the catch up is $11,250, for $35,750. Employer money is modeled under a $72,000 yearly total that does not count catch up amounts.
Will the 401(k) contribution limit go up after 2026?
Probably. The IRS reviews the limits each year and usually raises them in steps to keep up with inflation. This calculator holds the 2026 figures, $24,500 plus catch ups, for every future year, so a high earner’s real ceiling will likely be higher later on. Treat capped years in the table as a floor, not the most you could ever save.
What does a 50% match up to 6% mean?
Your employer adds 50 cents for every dollar you save, but only on the first 6% of your salary. On $85,000, 6% is $5,100, so the most they add is $2,550 a year. Enter 50 in Employer match rate and 6 in Match up to salary.
What return should I use in a 401(k) calculator?
The default is 7% a year. Test a lower rate too, since no return is certain and fees reduce it. In the default plan, 5% gives $1,313,614 instead of $1,941,001.
What happens if I try to save more than the limit?
The calculator caps your deposit at the limit for your age that year, and the Limit check line tells you if your first year was capped. At 52, saving 25% of $140,000 would be $35,000, so the tool uses $32,500.
Does this 401(k) calculator include taxes and fees?
No. The balance is before income tax, fund fees and inflation. It also does not tell traditional and Roth 401(k) money apart. For a rough fee adjustment, lower the return by your fund’s expense ratio.
Can I share my 401(k) result?
Copy link preserves nine projection inputs: two ages, balance, salary, contribution, return, match and salary-growth assumptions. Use hypothetical examples for public sharing; account identifiers, holdings, documents and form fields are excluded. Save and Restore keep these inputs locally with Preferences consent. CSV includes the inputs, assumptions and displayed results; keep it private.
Where the numbers come from.
- Method: salary grown yearly by your raise rate; your deposit is salary times your rate, capped by age; the match is salary times the smaller of your rate and the match limit, times the match rate; the balance compounds monthly at one twelfth of the yearly return.
- Limits are the 2026 figures written into the tool’s code: $24,500 employee deferral, $8,000 catch up at 50 and over, $11,250 catch up at ages 60 to 63, and a $72,000 annual additions limit for employer money. They are held at 2026 levels for all future years.
- Checked: every figure on this page was produced by this calculator on September 29, 2026, then the page was tested on a phone and a desktop.
- Written by Felix La Spina, reviewed by Associate Professor Charles Lo, CPA, PhD. Last updated October 13, 2026. Editorial standards.
- Spotted an error? Tell us.
Know what your 401(k) is invested in.
Learn how compounding works before changing your contribution and return assumptions.
Sources and reference material
Primary sources and original reference material for the concepts discussed on this page.
- IRS: 2026 401(k) and IRA contribution limits
- IRS: Retirement plan definitions
- IRS: Roth comparison chart
References added 14 October 2026.
