401(k) Calculator
Estimate retirement growth, find the contribution needed for the full employer match, and see what may be vested if you leave.
2026-limit estimate: project a balance, employer match, and the amount you could keep after leaving. Your plan document controls the real match and vesting rules.
Retirement projection
Estimated balance at age
Where the retirement estimate comes from
- Opening balances
- Your projected contributions
- Employer projected contributions
- Estimated investment growth
If you leave after years
Estimated amount you keep:
- Total account then
- Employer vesting
- Employer amount not vested
Employee deferrals and the entered current vested balance stay 100% yours. The selected schedule applies only to the modeled employer balance.
Return sensitivity
First-year employee limit: · overall annual additions limit before catch-up: $72,000 · match compensation cap: $360,000.
Illustration only. Returns are not guaranteed. Verify contribution, compensation, matching, vesting, payroll timing, fees, and plan-specific limits with the plan document or administrator.
Private calculation: salary, balance, contribution, match, age, return, service, and scenario values stay in this tab and are not added to URLs, storage, requests, or analytics.
Start with the contribution and match you can verify
Enter your current age, planned retirement age, vested account balance, annual salary, contribution percentage, and an estimated annual return. The default employer match means the employer adds 50% of the amount you defer on the first 6% of salary. Open Employer match & leaving a job to replace that default with the wording in your plan document.
Two match tiers cover plans described like “100% of the first 3%, then 50% of the next 3%.” The calculator applies Tier 1 first and Tier 2 to the next slice of employee deferrals. It shows both the estimated match at your current contribution rate and how much modeled match remains available.
2026 IRS limits used in every projection year
The IRS lists a $24,500 employee elective-deferral limit for 2026. The catch-up contribution is $8,000 at age 50 or older, except ages 60 through 63 can use the higher $11,250 catch-up. The defined-contribution annual-additions limit is $72,000, and compensation used under the plan is capped at $360,000. Catch-up contributions are outside the $72,000 annual-additions limit.
This page keeps those dollar limits fixed for all projected years. It does not invent future IRS inflation adjustments. The age test is applied again each modeled year, so the ordinary age-50 catch-up and the ages-60–63 higher catch-up begin when the projection reaches those ages. Your plan can impose a lower limit or restrict highly compensated employees.
How the monthly balance projection works
The model converts the entered annual return to an equivalent monthly rate: (1 + annual return)1/12 − 1. It applies that rate to each balance bucket, then adds one-twelfth of that year's employee contribution and employer match at the end of the month. Salary growth is applied once at the start of each later projection year.
The result keeps opening balances, employee contributions, employer contributions, and estimated investment growth separate. Return sensitivity repeats the same monthly model at two percentage points below and above the entered return. It is a range check, not a forecast or probability interval.
Leaving a job and employer vesting
The Department of Labor explains that employee contributions are always fully vested. Employer matching or nonelective contributions may vest under the plan's schedule. Common examples include immediate vesting, a three-year cliff, or graded vesting of 20% after two years through 100% after six years. Safe-harbor required contributions generally must be immediately vested.
Choose the schedule that matches your plan or enter a custom percentage. At the selected leaving year, the calculator keeps the employee and entered vested balance at 100%, applies the chosen percentage to the employer balance, and reports the modeled nonvested amount separately. Real service-credit rules, hours requirements, breaks in service, rehire rules, plan amendments, and the exact termination date can change the result.
Scope and privacy
This is an educational estimate, not tax, legal, investment, fiduciary, or retirement-planning advice. It does not calculate federal or state taxes, traditional versus Roth tax effects, after-tax contributions, fees, loans, withdrawals, hardship distributions, required minimum distributions, Social Security, pensions, rollovers, inflation-adjusted purchasing power, asset allocation, or sequence-of-returns risk. Returns are not guaranteed.
The static page performs the calculation locally. It does not put salary, balance, contribution, match, age, return, service, or leaving-job values in query parameters, URL fragments, local storage, session storage, IndexedDB, cookies, application requests, structured data, or analytics. Verify all limits, matching, vesting, and payroll rules with the current plan document or administrator before making a decision.
Frequently asked questions
What are the 401(k) contribution limits for 2026?
The IRS says the 2026 elective-deferral limit is $24,500. The catch-up amount is $8,000 for participants age 50 or older, except the higher $11,250 catch-up for ages 60–63. The defined-contribution annual-additions limit is $72,000, and the compensation limit is $360,000. A plan can impose lower limits.
How does this calculator handle an employer match?
You can enter up to two match tiers. For example, 100% of the first 3% plus 50% of the next 3%. The result shows the modeled first-year match, the employee contribution needed to reach every available tier, and match left on the table.
Are my own 401(k) contributions always vested?
The US Department of Labor says employee contributions are always 100% vested. Employer contributions can follow a plan-specific schedule. This calculator applies the selected schedule only to the employer balance.
What happens if I leave before employer contributions vest?
The leaving-job scenario projects the account to the selected year, then separates employee and already-vested money from the modeled employer balance. Only the chosen employer-vesting percentage is included in the estimated amount you keep.
Does the calculator increase IRS limits in future years?
No. It holds the published 2026 limits constant throughout the projection because future inflation adjustments are unknown. Salary can grow by the percentage you enter, so the receipt makes this conservative statutory-limit assumption visible.
Does this calculator provide retirement or tax advice?
No. It is an educational illustration using the values you enter. It does not model taxes, fees, Roth treatment, withdrawals, loans, required minimum distributions, Social Security, asset allocation, or a guaranteed return.
Are my salary and retirement values sent anywhere?
No. The calculation runs in this browser. Entered and derived financial values are not placed in the URL, browser storage, application requests, or analytics parameters.