401(k) Calculator

The employer match applies your Employer Match percentage to your contribution, but only up to the portion of your salary set by Match Limit, and that salary is itself capped at the IRS's §401(a)(17) annual compensation limit before the match percentage is applied. For example, a 50% match with a 6% limit on a $75,000 salary matches up to $4,500 of your own contributions (6% of $75,000) at 50 cents on the dollar, contributing at most $2,250 per year regardless of how much more you personally contribute beyond that $4,500 threshold; a saver earning well above the compensation limit only gets matched on pay up to that statutory ceiling, not their full salary.

Contributions beyond the employer's matched percentage of salary stop earning additional match dollars, but they still grow tax-advantaged inside the account and still count toward your annual contribution total. The calculator's investment growth figure reflects compounding on your full contribution amount, not just the matched portion, so extra contributions remain worthwhile for building the balance even without additional matching dollars.

7% is a commonly cited long-run nominal average for a stock-heavy portfolio, but actual returns vary significantly year to year, depend heavily on your specific asset allocation, and this figure has not been adjusted for inflation — the balance the calculator projects is in future, not today's, dollars. Try running the calculator at a lower rate (around 5%) and a higher rate (around 9%) to see the range of plausible outcomes rather than treating any single number as a guarantee.

The 4% rule is a widely cited historical guideline suggesting a retirement portfolio can support an initial 4% annual withdrawal, adjusted for inflation, with a low historical probability of running out over a 30-year retirement. It is a planning heuristic, not a personalized guarantee — actual safe withdrawal rates depend on market returns after you retire, how long your retirement lasts, and your portfolio's mix of stocks and bonds.

Yes — the calculator determines the legal elective-deferral ceiling from the Current Age you enter (the base limit under 50, the standard catch-up limit at 50-59 and 64+, or SECURE 2.0's larger catch-up limit at exactly 60-63) and silently caps the amount actually used in the projection at that age-appropriate ceiling, even if you type a higher Annual Contribution. The Annual Contribution field's declared maximum only reflects the single highest limit (ages 60-63); the helper text beneath it spells out all three age-based limits for the current year, sourced from the same reference data used across the site's other retirement calculators.