401(k) Calculator

Project your 401(k) balance at retirement from your salary, contribution rate, employer match, and expected return.

Current age (years)

Retirement age (years)

Annual salary ($)

Your contribution (%)

Employer match rate (e.g. 50 for "50 cents per dollar") (%)

Employer match up to this % of salary (%)

Current 401(k) balance ($)

Expected annual return (%)

Result

How to Use

Enter your current age, planned retirement age, annual salary, and your own contribution as a percentage of salary.
If your employer offers a match, enter its rate and the salary percentage it applies up to (e.g. "matches 50% of what you contribute, up to 6% of your salary" is a match rate of 50 and a match limit of 6) — leave both at 0 if there's no match.
Enter your current 401(k) balance (0 if you're starting fresh) and the annual return you want to assume for your investments.
The result shows your projected balance at retirement, with your own contributions, your employer's match, and investment growth all reported separately.

Formula

Matchable %: matchable_percent = min(your_contribution_percent, employer_match_limit_percent)
Employer annual match: employer_match = salary × matchable_percent ÷ 100 × match_rate ÷ 100
Monthly contribution: monthly_contribution = (your annual contribution + employer annual match) ÷ 12
Projected balance: balance = current_balance × (1 + monthly_rate)^n + monthly_contribution × (((1 + monthly_rate)^n − 1) ÷ monthly_rate)

Worked Example

Age 25 to 65 (40 years), $70,000 salary, contributing 6%, an employer match of 50% up to 6% of salary, $5,000 already saved, 7% expected return.

Your annual contribution: $70,000 × 6% = $4,200.00
Matchable percent: min(6%, 6%) = 6%
Employer annual match: $70,000 × 6% × 50% = $2,100.00
Combined monthly contribution: ($4,200 + $2,100) ÷ 12 = $525.00
Projected balance after 40 years at 7% annual return ≈ $1,459,584.09

Result: Projected balance at retirement: $1,459,584.09 / Your total contributions: $168,000.00 / Total employer match: $84,000.00 / Total investment growth: $1,202,584.09

About This Tool

What this tool does

This calculator projects your 401(k) balance at retirement, growing your current balance plus your own contributions and any employer match every month at your assumed rate of return — with your contributions, the employer's match, and the investment growth all reported as separate figures.

When to use it

Use it to see how increasing your contribution percentage — especially up to your full employer match, if you have one — changes your projected balance, or to compare different assumed rates of return.

What the result means

Your total contributions and total employer match show exactly how much of the projected balance came from real money going in (yours, and your employer's) versus total investment growth, which is everything the balance gained beyond those contributions. Not capturing your full employer match (contributing below the match limit) means leaving part of that "employer match" figure on the table.

Assumptions & limitations

This models the single most common employer match structure — "the employer matches X% of what you contribute, up to Y% of your salary" — some real plans use a different or tiered formula (e.g. 100% on the first 3% plus 50% on the next 2%), which this tool doesn't attempt to replicate; use your plan's actual documents for its exact structure. This tool does NOT enforce IRS annual elective-deferral contribution limits, since those change periodically and hard-coding a specific year's dollar figure here would go stale — check your contribution against your plan's and the IRS's current limits yourself. This also assumes a constant salary, contribution percentage, and match structure for the entire projection period, and a constant rate of return with no year-to-year market variability. This tool is for education and rough planning only, not tax, investment, or retirement advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does employer 401(k) matching work?

A common structure is the employer contributing a percentage of what you put in, up to a cap based on your salary — for example, "50% of your contribution, up to 6% of your salary" means contributing 6% of your salary gets you an extra 3% of salary from your employer. This calculator models that structure directly from the match rate and match limit you enter.

Is there a limit on how much I can contribute to a 401(k)?

Yes — the IRS sets an annual elective-deferral limit that changes periodically (and rises for the years you're over the IRS's catch-up-eligible age), so this calculator deliberately does not hard-code or enforce a specific dollar limit that could quickly become outdated. Check your actual contribution against your plan and the current IRS limit directly.

What if I'm not contributing enough to get my full employer match?

Try raising your contribution percentage in this calculator up to your plan's match limit and compare the "Total employer match" figure — money your employer would add but currently isn't, because your contribution falls short of the plan's match cap, is often described as leaving free money on the table.