Does this include the age 50+ catch-up contribution limit?

Not as a separate input — for 2026, savers age 50 and over can contribute an additional $8,000 (ages 60-63 get a higher catch-up under SECURE 2.0). If that applies to you, treat the projected employee contribution as a conservative estimate.

Is investment growth guaranteed?

No — the expected annual return you enter is an assumption, not a guarantee. Real market returns vary significantly year to year; try a lower and higher return to see a realistic range rather than trusting one number.

Why does contributing beyond my employer's match cap still help?

Contributions beyond the match cap don't earn additional employer money, but they still grow tax-advantaged — often still worth doing once you're capturing the full match, depending on your other savings goals and account options.

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Finance

401(k) Contribution Calculator

Project retirement savings from salary, match, and contribution rate.

🔒 Runs entirely in your browser — nothing here is ever uploaded

Last reviewed 2026-08-25

About the 401(k) Contribution Calculator

Projects your 401(k) balance at retirement from your salary, contribution rate, employer match, and expected investment return — including your employer's matching contribution and the IRS annual contribution limit.

How to use it

Enter your Annual salary and the percentage of it you contribute.
Enter your employer's Match rate and the Match cap (the percentage of salary they match up to).
Enter your Current 401(k) balance, Expected annual return, and Years until retirement.
Read your projected balance and its breakdown in the result panel and chart.

Formula

Employee contribution = salary × contribution %, capped at the IRS annual limit
Employer match = salary × min(contribution %, match cap %) × match rate
Balance grows each year as: balance × (1 + return) + (employee + employer contributions)

The 2026 IRS employee elective-deferral limit is $24,500 (there are additional catch-up limits for ages 50+ and 60-63 under SECURE 2.0, not modeled as separate inputs here — see the FAQ).

Worked example

On a $75,000 salary contributing 6%, matched 50% up to 6%, starting from a $10,000 balance with a 7% expected return over 25 years, both the employee and employer contributions compound alongside investment growth — the exact projected balance depends on all of these inputs together, which is the point of running your own numbers.

Recommendations

• Contributing at least up to your employer's full match is usually the single highest-return move available — it's an immediate, guaranteed return that a fixed-income or market investment can't match.
• A projected balance from a fixed annual return is illustrative, not a guarantee — real market returns vary year to year, sometimes sharply.
• Small increases to your contribution percentage compound significantly over decades — try raising it by just 1-2 points and compare the projected balance.

Frequently asked questions

The calculator caps your modeled employee contribution at the 2026 IRS limit ($24,500) and flags it — real 401(k) plans enforce this limit automatically once you hit it during the year.