401(k) Calculator
How much will your 401(k) be worth when you retire? Enter your age, salary, contribution rate and employer match, and this calculator projects your balance year by year, checks your contributions against the 2026 IRS limits, and estimates the monthly income your savings could provide.
Projected Balance at Retirement
How It Works
A 401(k) grows in three ways at once: your own contributions, your employer's match, and investment returns on everything already in the account. The returns are where the real money is made, because they compound — each year's growth earns growth of its own in the years after. This calculator compounds your balance month by month: every month the balance grows by one-twelfth of the annual return you enter, and then that month's employee and employer contributions are added. Over decades, the compounding does most of the work.
The projection also checks your contributions against the IRS limits for 2026. For 2026 the employee elective-deferral limit is $24,500 for everyone under 50. Workers aged 50 or older can add an $8,000 catch-up, taking their limit to $32,500 — except workers aged 60 to 63, who get a higher SECURE 2.0 super catch-up of $11,250 instead, for a total of $35,750. The super catch-up replaces the standard $8,000; it does not stack on top of it. The combined employee-plus-employer limit for 2026 is $72,000. If your contribution rate would put you over your limit, the calculator flags it.
For 2027, the limits rise again: the IRS announced on 12 November 2026 (IR-2026-136) that the employee elective-deferral limit increases to $25,500, with the age-50+ catch-up rising to $8,500 ($34,000 total) and the ages 60–63 super catch-up rising to $11,750 ($37,250 total). The IRA limit is unchanged at $7,500. This calculator currently checks contributions against the 2026 limits, which still govern contributions through 31 December 2026.
Worked Example
Take a 30-year-old earning $70,000 a year, with $10,000 already saved, contributing 10% of salary ($7,000 a year) with a 4% employer match ($2,800 a year), and retiring at 65 with a 7% average annual return. Over 35 years the total money going in is $353,000.00 — $245,000 from the employee, $98,000 from the employer, plus the $10,000 starting balance. The projected balance at 65 is $1,585,922.78. The difference, $1,232,922.78, is investment growth — more than three times the total contributions. Using the 4% rule of thumb, that balance could support about $5,286.41 a month of retirement income (balance × 4% ÷ 12).
The shape of the growth is the lesson. After 10 years the balance is only $161,449.21; after 20 years it is $465,810.83; after 25 years it is $718,812.73. More than half of the final balance arrives in the last decade, because compounding accelerates as the balance grows. Starting early matters more than starting big: the same contributions begun at 40 instead of 30 would end at $718,812.73 instead of $1,585,922.78 — less than half — even though only ten fewer years of contributions are involved.
Assumptions
- Your salary, contribution rate and employer match stay unchanged for the whole period. In reality salaries usually rise, which would increase contributions.
- The investment return is a steady average every year. Real returns swing up and down; a steady 7% is a planning simplification, not a forecast.
- Contributions are made monthly and evenly through the year. The 2026 IRS limits are applied as stated; limits are adjusted for inflation in future years.
- No loans, withdrawals, rollovers or fees are included. Plan fees reduce the return slightly in practice.
- The 4% rule is a rule of thumb for sustainable withdrawals, not a guarantee — it assumes a balanced portfolio and a 30-year retirement.
What this calculator leaves out: taxes on traditional 401(k) withdrawals, required minimum distributions, Social Security, pensions, and any other savings. The monthly income figure is a before-tax estimate from this account alone.
The return assumption dominates everything else. The table below shows the same saver — 30 to 65, $10,000 starting balance, $7,000 employee and $2,800 employer contributions a year — at four different average returns:
| Average annual return | Balance at 65 | Monthly income (4% rule) |
|---|---|---|
| 5% | $985,146.00 | $3,283.82 |
| 6% | $1,244,748.93 | $4,149.16 |
| 7% | $1,585,922.78 | $5,286.41 |
| 8% | $2,036,262.86 | $6,787.54 |
One percentage point of return is worth roughly $340,000 over 35 years at these contribution levels. That is why the investment choice inside the plan — and the fees charged on it — matters as much as the contribution rate. A low-cost diversified fund keeps more of the return for you.
How to Use This Calculator
Enter your current age and the age you plan to retire, your current balance, your salary, and the percentage you contribute. The employer match field is the percentage of salary your employer actually pays in — if your employer matches 50% of the first 6% you contribute, that is a 3% match when you contribute 6% or more. Set the return to a figure you are comfortable planning around, and read the projected balance, the split between your money and growth, and the estimated monthly income.
Pay attention to the limit warning. If your contribution percentage pushes your annual deferral above the IRS limit for your age, the calculator shows the excess — you cannot actually contribute that much, and your plan will stop you. Workers aged 50 and over should check the catch-up: $8,000 extra a year, or $11,250 if you are 60 to 63. And from 2026, if your prior-year FICA wages from the employer sponsoring the plan exceeded $150,000, catch-up contributions must be made as Roth (after-tax) contributions.
Tips and Practical Advice
At minimum, contribute enough to get the full employer match. A match is an immediate 100% return on the matched dollars — no investment can compete with it, and leaving it unclaimed is leaving salary on the table. In the worked example the match is worth $98,000 of contributions over the career, before any growth on it.
Raise your contribution rate by 1% a year, or every time you get a raise. You will barely notice the smaller take-home pay, because the increase is gradual, but the effect on the final balance is large — an extra 1% of a $70,000 salary is $700 a year, and over 35 years at 7% that single percentage point is worth roughly $100,000 at retirement.
Finally, do not set the return to an optimistic number to make the answer look good. A projection built on 10% returns that never arrive is worse than useless, because it tells you to save less than you need. Plan on a modest return, save as if it will be lower, and treat anything better as a bonus.
Saving for something with a fixed deadline — a house deposit, a wedding — rather than for retirement? The Savings Goal Calculator turns a target amount and a date into a monthly plan.
Sources: IRS Notice 2025-67 and news release IR-2025-111 (2026 limits: $24,500 elective deferral; $8,000 catch-up at 50+; $11,250 super catch-up at ages 60–63; $72,000 total additions; Roth catch-up required above $150,000 prior-year FICA wages under SECURE 2.0 §603). 2027 limits: IR-2026-136 ($25,500 elective deferral; $8,500 catch-up at 50+; $11,750 super catch-up at ages 60–63; IRA unchanged at $7,500). Last reviewed: 13 November 2026.
Built and tested by SumKitTool — see how we check our numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should I contribute to my 401(k)?
At least enough to get your employer's full match — that is free money. A common target is 15% of salary including the employer match. In the example here, 10% from the employee plus a 4% match is 14% total, which projects to $1,585,922.78 by age 65.
What is the 401(k) contribution limit for 2026?
$24,500 for employee elective deferrals. Workers 50 and older can add an $8,000 catch-up ($32,500 total), and workers aged 60 to 63 can use the $11,250 SECURE 2.0 super catch-up instead ($35,750 total). The combined employee-plus-employer limit is $72,000.
What is the 401(k) contribution limit for 2027?
$25,500 for employee elective deferrals, announced by the IRS on 12 November 2026. Workers 50 and older can add an $8,500 catch-up ($34,000 total), and workers aged 60 to 63 can use the $11,750 SECURE 2.0 super catch-up instead ($37,250 total). The IRA limit is unchanged at $7,500.
What is the 4% rule?
A rule of thumb that you can withdraw 4% of your retirement savings in the first year of retirement, then adjust for inflation each year, with a good chance the money lasts 30 years. This calculator shows the monthly equivalent: balance × 4% ÷ 12. It is a planning guide, not a guarantee.
Does the employer match count toward my $24,500 limit?
No. The $24,500 limit applies to your own elective deferrals only. Employer matching and profit-sharing contributions count toward the separate $72,000 combined limit for 2026, not toward your personal limit.
Why must some catch-up contributions be Roth in 2026?
Under SECURE 2.0, workers whose prior-year FICA wages from the employer sponsoring the plan exceeded $150,000 must make catch-up contributions as Roth (after-tax) contributions starting in 2026. The rule changes the tax treatment of catch-up dollars, not the amount you can save.
Related guide: Roth IRA vs 401(k) — Which Is Better? — how the employer match and the tax timing change the answer.
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