401(k) Calculator

Formula

Each year: balance = balance × (1 + r) + your contribution + employer match, where match = salary × min(your %, match cap %) × match rate

The projection steps a year at a time. The opening balance earns the assumed return, then that year's contributions are added, and salary rises by your raise before the next year. The employer's match applies only to the part of your contribution that falls within its cap, so contributing above the cap adds your money but no more of theirs.

Worked example

On a $60,000 salary, 6% is $3,600 a year, and a 50% match on the first 6% adds $1,800. Ten years of that $5,400 at an assumed 7% grows to about $74,609 — of which $18,000 was the employer's money.

Where this can give the wrong answer

• The 2026 employee limit is $24,500, with an extra $8,000 allowed from age 50 and $11,250 instead at ages 60 to 63. The employer's match does not count toward that limit; a separate overall cap of $72,000 in 2026 covers your deferrals and the employer's contributions together. A first-year contribution above the employee limit is flagged.
• Contributing less than the match cap leaves part of the match unclaimed, and the page says so when that is the case.
• Employer contributions may be subject to a vesting schedule set by your plan. Leaving before you are vested can mean forfeiting part of the match shown here — your plan document has the schedule.
• A traditional 401(k) is taxed on withdrawal, so the balance is a pre-tax figure. A Roth 401(k) is the reverse. This page does not model either tax.
• Contributions are counted at the end of each year, which slightly understates a plan funded from every paycheck.

Related calculators

• Roth IRA Calculator
• Retirement Calculator
• RMD Calculator (Required Minimum Distribution)