401K Calculator

Project your 401(k) balance at retirement including employer match and salary growth.

100% Free No Sign-Up Calculated in Your Browser

Current Age

Retirement Age

Current 401(k) Balance

Annual Salary

Employee Contribution (%)

Employer Match (%)

% of employee contribution matched

Employer Match Limit (% of salary)

Annual Return Rate (%)

Annual Salary Growth Rate (%)

Balance at Retirement

at age 65

Employee Contributions

Employer Contributions

Investment Growth

Monthly Retirement Income

25-yr withdrawal

Year / Age	Salary	Emp. Contrib	Employer Match	Balance

Project your 401(k) balance at retirement based on your current savings, employee contribution rate, employer match, expected investment return, and salary growth.

How It Works

How 401(k) Calculator Works

Each working year, the calculator adds your employee contribution (salary × contribution %) and an employer match, which it caps two ways: the match itself is only a percentage of what you contribute, and the total employer dollars added can never exceed the "employer match limit" you set as a percent of salary. Both amounts are split into twelve equal monthly deposits and added to the balance, which then compounds monthly at your entered annual return rate ÷ 12.

After each full year, your salary is increased by your entered salary growth rate before the next year's contributions are calculated, so both your own contribution and the capped employer match grow gradually over your career rather than staying flat.

The "monthly retirement income" figure treats your final balance as a lump sum and runs it through the standard loan-payment formula in reverse, solving for the level monthly withdrawal that would fully deplete the balance over 25 years at the same rate of return.

Worked Example

See It In Action

Starting at age 30 with a $25,000 balance, a $75,000 salary, a 6% employee contribution, a 50% employer match capped at 3% of salary, a 7% return, and 2% annual salary growth: in year one you contribute $4,500 and the employer adds $2,250 (50% of $4,500 is $2,250, which exactly equals the 3%-of-salary cap here). Retiring at 65 (35 years of growth), the balance grows to roughly $1,554,941 — about $224,975 from your own contributions, $112,488 from the employer match, and $1,192,478 from investment growth — supporting an estimated $10,990-a-month withdrawal over a 25-year retirement.

Real-World Use Cases

Who Uses 401(k) Calculator and Why

Projecting your 401(k) balance at retirement based on your current contribution rate and employer match.
Checking whether you're contributing enough to capture the full employer match given its percentage cap on salary.
Seeing how much of your projected balance comes from your own contributions versus the employer match versus investment growth.
Estimating a rough monthly retirement income your projected 401(k) balance could support over a 25-year drawdown.

Common Mistakes

Mistakes to Avoid

Contributing well above the percentage the employer matches and assuming extra employer dollars follow — the match is capped as a percentage of salary regardless of how much more you personally contribute, so anything past that cap only benefits from your own contribution.
Ignoring salary growth in the projection — because both your contribution and the employer match are calculated as a percentage of salary each year, even modest annual raises meaningfully compound the dollars going in over a multi-decade career.
Treating the projected monthly retirement income figure as guaranteed — it's calculated by running the loan-payment formula in reverse assuming your entered rate of return holds for a full 25-year drawdown, not a promised outcome.

Pro Tips

Tips for Best Results

Check where your contribution percentage sits relative to the employer match limit — contributing just enough to capture the full match is often the highest-return dollar you can put in.
Try adjusting the salary growth rate to see how sensitive your long-term balance is to career raises, since both your contribution and the match scale with salary.

Troubleshooting

Fixing Common Problems

Increasing my contribution percentage past the match cap doesn't seem to add much employer money. — This is expected — the employer match is capped as a percentage of your salary, so contributions above that percentage still grow your own balance but no longer attract additional matched dollars.

Glossary

Terms Explained

Employer match: Additional employer-contributed dollars tied to your own contribution, capped both as a percentage of what you contribute and as a percentage of salary.

Salary growth rate: The annual percentage increase applied to your salary each year in the projection, which scales up both your contribution and the employer match over time.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I contribute more than my employer will match?

Contributing above the matched percentage still grows your balance — it just means the extra amount only benefits from your own contribution, not additional employer dollars, since the match is capped as a percentage of your salary regardless of how much you personally contribute.

Does salary growth affect the projection much?

Yes — because contributions and the employer match are both calculated as a percentage of salary each year, even modest annual raises compound the amount going into the account over a multi-decade career.

How is the "monthly retirement income" figure calculated?

It applies the loan amortization formula in reverse to your projected balance, solving for the fixed monthly amount that would draw the account down to zero over 25 years at your assumed rate of return — it is an estimate, not a guarantee of future returns.

Does the current balance grow the same way as new contributions?

Yes — your existing balance and every dollar of new employee and employer contributions all compound together monthly at the same assumed annual return rate for the rest of your working years.