401(k) Calculator - Balance & Employer Match

401(k) Calculator

Project your 401(k) balance at retirement. See the employer match your salary cap allows, any match left unclaimed, and the 2026 limit for your age.

Enter Current Balance

Enter Annual Contribution

Enter Employer Match and Salary

Enter Expected Return

This assumes a constant return and match formula and the 2026 contribution limits, while real plans change vesting schedules, match formulas, and limits year to year. Check your plan's summary plan description before changing how much you contribute.

Formulas and sources

Each formula this calculator uses, where it comes from, and what it leaves out. "How it works" shows the same formula with your own numbers.

Employer match

Match = M × min(PMT, C × S)
M
the employer match rate, e.g. 50%
PMT
your contribution that year, after the IRS limit

C is the match cap as a share of salary, e.g. 6%. S is that year's salary, counted only up to $360,000, the 2026 compensation limit. Your plan's own formula may differ, and matched money may vest over time.

Source: Standard plan formula; no single publisher. Pay above the limit is left out as in the IRS's own example [1]. The limit is set by 26 U.S.C. §401(a)(17) [2], and $360,000 is its 2026 figure in Notice 2025-67 [3].

Your contribution each year

PMT = min(your amount, L)
PMT
the contribution the projection uses that year
L
the 2026 IRS limit for your age: $24,500, $32,500 from 50, or $35,750 at 60 to 63

Your amount is the Annual Contribution, or with % of salary, that year's salary times your share. Salary grows by the Yearly Raise, and the share by the Automatic Increase until its stop.

Source: Based on the 2026 limits in IRS Notice 2025-67 [3] and news release IR-2025-111 [4]. The IRS sets catch-up eligibility by your age on December 31 [3] [5]; the calculator uses your age today.

Balance at retirement

Each year: balance += PMT + Match, then balance ×= (1 + r), repeated for n years, starting from PV → FV
PMT
your contribution that year
r
yearly return, as a decimal
n
years to retirement
PV
current balance
FV
balance at retirement

Your contribution and the match go in at the start of each year, and that year's growth is added at the end, so r compounds once a year.

Source: Standard compound interest and annuity formula; no single publisher.

Sources

  1. Internal Revenue Service. 401k Plans deferrals and matching when compensation exceeds the annual limit, Employer matching contributions, example. Page last reviewed or updated February 26, 2026.
  2. United States Code. 26 U.S.C. §401, Qualified pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans, subsection (a)(17), compensation limit. 2024 edition, GovInfo.
  3. Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2025-67: 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted for Changes in Cost-of-Living, Internal Revenue Bulletin 2025-49, page 761. December 1, 2025.
  4. Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA limit increases to $7,500, news release IR-2025-111. November 13, 2025.
  5. Internal Revenue Service. Retirement topics - Catch-up contributions. Page last reviewed or updated May 7, 2026.

What this calculator does not cover

  • It models one account at one return. It does not track vesting of employer money, Roth against traditional 401(k) tax, or the combined §415(c) limit on employee and employer money.
  • Every year keeps the 2026 IRS figures, including the $360,000 pay limit.
  • Your share of salary applies to your full pay. The IRS says deferrals continue on pay above the limit unless your plan's terms stop them there.
  • The calculator uses your age today for the first year and adds one each year. The IRS uses the age you reach by December 31. If your birthday is still ahead this year, your real limit is higher than the one used in the years you turn 50 and 60, and lower in the year you turn 64.
  • From 2026, catch-up contributions must go in as Roth for anyone whose wages from the employer were over $150,000 the year before. The calculator does not separate them.

Sources checked on .

Help

Quick Start Guide

  1. Enter Current Balance: Input your current 401(k) balance (if any).
  2. Enter Annual Contribution: Enter your yearly contribution in dollars, or switch to a share of salary with an optional yearly raise and automatic increase.
  3. Enter Employer Match and Salary: Input your employer's match percentage, the share of salary it matches up to, and your salary.
  4. Enter Expected Return: Input the average yearly return you expect, e.g. 7%.
  5. Enter Years to Retirement: Input how many years until you plan to retire.
  6. View Projected Balance: See your projected 401(k) balance at retirement with employer match included.

Frequently Asked Questions

For 2026, the elective deferral limit is $24,500 (under age 50). If you are 50 or older, you can make an additional catch-up contribution of $8,000, for a total of $32,500. Ages 60-63 get an even higher catch-up under SECURE 2.0, bringing the total to $35,750. The projection caps your contribution each year at the 2026 limit for your age that year and shows how much the cap left out. The IRS adjusts the limits for cost-of-living changes; the projection keeps the 2026 figures.

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