401k Calculator: Project Your Retirement Balance With Employer Match

1. Your pay starts at the salary you enter and rises once a year by the raise you enter.
2. Your contribution is your percent of pay (pay above the compensation limit is not counted), held to the IRS limit for that year, with catch-up added from age 50.
3. The employer match is figured on the percent you contribute, band by band, and held to the overall limit.
4. Money goes in as 12 equal monthly contributions at the end of each month. The assumed yearly return is turned into a monthly rate of (1 + return)^(1/12) - 1, so a balance with no contributions grows by exactly the return over a year.
5. The first year, 2026, assumes a full year of contributions, and your age is your age on December 31 of each year.
6. The projection stops when you reach your retirement age. Results are in future dollars, not adjusted for inflation.

Check by hand: with a flat $60,000 salary, $6,000 a year is $500 a month, and 12 payments of $500 at a 0% return add up to $6,000 for the year. At a 7% return the same payments grow a little more each month, and the calculator’s monthly rate of 0.5654% reproduces the 7% a year.

The table shows the limits the IRS has announced. The calculator uses the 2026 amounts for 2026 and holds them for every later year, because the IRS has not announced limits after 2026. That keeps the projection to announced numbers, and it is cautious, because the IRS adjusts the limits for cost of living.

The IRS notice sets the employee deferral and the overall limit for 2026:

The IRS news release sets the catch-up amounts, including the higher amount for ages 60 to 63:

The overall limit counts employee and employer money together, and the pay the plan can count is capped:

The calculator uses your age in each projected year as your age on December 31, so it applies the age 60 to 63 amount in those four years only. For the limits year by year, see the 2026 401(k) contribution limits and catch-up contributions pages.

Many plans match in steps. The default here is 100% of the first 3% of pay plus 50% of the next 2%. If you contribute 6% of $60,000, the first band is 3% x $60,000 = $1,800 matched in full, the second band is 2% x $60,000 = $1,200 matched at half, or $600, and the 1% above the bands is not matched. The match is $2,400. If you contribute only 2%, the match is just 2% x $60,000 = $1,200.

Your plan may match differently, for example only on pay up to a limit, per paycheck, or with a delay. The calculator assumes the match is paid on everything you contribute, including catch-up, and it does not model vesting. Check your summary plan description for the real formula.

The projection does not change with the choice. A traditional 401(k) contribution goes in before income tax and is taxed when you take it out; a Roth contribution goes in after tax. The balance shown is before any tax, and the calculator does not estimate tax. To see what a withdrawal can cost, use the 401(k) withdrawal tax calculator.

A separate rule applies to some higher earners who make catch-up contributions:

Leaving a job and thinking about early withdrawals? The rule of 55 page explains one exception to the 10% early withdrawal tax. Self-employed? Use the solo 401(k) calculator.

For the limits themselves, see the 2026 401(k) contribution limits and the 401(k) contribution limits 2027. To contribute beyond the employee limit, read about the mega backdoor Roth. For taking money out, see 401(k) hardship withdrawals and Roth IRA withdrawal rules. To see what regular deposits or a lump sum could grow to or pay out at a rate you assume, try the annuity calculator.