401(k) Calculator
Enter your age, salary, contribution rate and employer match to project your 401(k) balance at retirement -- with the current IRS contribution limit applied automatically.
Gross pay before tax. Paid hourly? WageSums converts hourly to salary.
Capped at the IRS limit for your age: $24,500/yr.
e.g. 50 for 50 cents per dollar you contribute.
% of salary the match applies to.
Compounded monthly.
Balance at retirement
$2,311,769.49
Your contributions
$453,465.61
Employer match
$136,039.68
Investment growth
$1,702,264.19
What the match is worth
Over this horizon, the employer match alone contributes $136,039.68, which grows into $480,379.95 by retirement -- $344,340.27 of that is investment growth on money you didn't have to save yourself.
Balance over time
How it's calculated
Each year, your salary grows by the annual growth rate you enter, then your contribution is the lesser of your chosen percentage of that salary or the IRS elective-deferral limit for your age that year:
contribution = min(salary × rate%, IRS limit(age))
The employer match applies only to the portion of your rate up to the match cap you enter, then that match rate:
match = salary × min(rate actually contributed%, match cap%) × match rate%
If the IRS cap trims your contribution, the match is computed on the trimmed rate, the way plan administrators do it. Both are added to the balance every month and grown at your expected return, compounded monthly (the same engine as the CompoundSums compound interest calculator): A = P × (1 + r/12)ⁿ, where n is the number of months elapsed. The result is walked month by month over your full horizon, the same one production engine every tool on this site uses, rather than a single end-of-horizon formula.
Worked example
The calculator's own defaults: age 30 today, retiring at 65, a $20,000 starting balance, a $75,000 salary growing 3%/yr, contributing 10% with a 50%-up-to-6% employer match, at a 7% expected return.
| Your contributions over 35 years | $453,465.61 |
| Employer match | $136,039.68 |
| Investment growth | $1,702,264.19 |
| Balance at retirement (age 65) | $2,311,769.49 |
The match alone -- $136,039.68 in employer dollars -- grows into $480,379.95 by retirement. Plug the same numbers into the calculator above and it lands on the same balance to the penny; that reconciliation is checked in the site's own test suite, not just written here.
2026 IRS elective-deferral limits by age
| Age during the year | 2026 limit |
|---|---|
| Under 50 | $24,500 |
| 50-59 | $32,500 |
| 60-63 (SECURE 2.0 super catch-up) | $35,750 |
| 64+ | $32,500 |
Source: IRS Notice 2025-67, the IRS's official 2026 cost-of-living adjustments (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-25-67.pdf). This is a per-employee limit on elective deferrals; it doesn't include employer contributions, which are governed by a separate, higher combined-additions limit this calculator doesn't model.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the 2026 401(k) contribution limit?
For 2026, the IRS elective-deferral limit is $24,500. If you're 50 or older by the end of the year, you can add a $8,000 catch-up for a total of $32,500. Under SECURE 2.0, employees who turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 during the year get a higher "super catch-up" of $11,250 instead, for a total of $35,750. Source: IRS Notice 2025-67 (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-25-67.pdf). This calculator applies the right limit for your age automatically and flags any year it caps your contribution.
How does the employer match calculation work?
Enter the match rate (e.g. 50 for 50 cents per dollar you put in) and the cap, as a percent of salary, the match applies to. If you contribute more than that capped percentage, the extra goes into your account but isn't matched -- exactly how most real plans work. The calculator applies this every year against that year's (growing) salary, not a fixed dollar figure.
Does this account for vesting?
No. It assumes every dollar of match is yours to keep. Many plans vest employer contributions over several years of service -- check your plan's summary plan description for the real schedule, and treat the match total here as what you'd have if fully vested.
Why does my contribution get capped in some years?
The IRS limits how much of your own salary you can defer into a 401(k) each year (see above), regardless of what percentage you asked for. A high earner at a high contribution percentage can hit that dollar cap before the percentage would otherwise stop them -- the calculator switches to the capped dollar amount for any year that happens, and marks it in the year-by-year table.
Should I contribute to a Roth or traditional 401(k)?
This calculator projects growth the same way regardless of which you choose; the difference is entirely in taxes -- traditional lowers your taxable income now and is taxed on withdrawal, Roth is taxed now and grows tax-free. The Roth IRA calculator's explainer covers that trade-off in more detail, and it applies the same way inside a workplace plan.
Figures on this page are estimates from the inputs you enter, not financial advice, and this site is not affiliated with any employer, plan administrator, bank or the IRS. Real accounts vary by plan rules, taxes and fees this tool doesn't model -- see the Terms.