Project your 401(k) at retirement.

How a 401(k) projection works

A 401(k) projection combines four moving parts: the current balance, ongoing employee contributions, employer matching, and investment growth. This calculator applies your expected annual return monthly (which is how real accounts compound), contributes your elected percentage of salary each month, and adds the employer match once per year on eligible compensation. Salary can grow annually, which also grows the contribution and match dollars over time.

Employer match: the free money rule

The employer match is the single highest-return dollar in the account. A typical formula of 50% up to 6% of pay means an employee contributing 6% receives an immediate 50% return on the matched portion. A 100% match up to 4% of pay is an immediate 100% return on those dollars. If you take one rule away from this page it should be: always contribute at least enough to capture the full match. Anything less leaves guaranteed compensation on the table.

2026 contribution limits

The IRS sets the 401(k) elective deferral limit annually and indexes it for inflation. On top of that base:

• Savers age 50 or older can make an additional catch-up contribution.
• Under SECURE 2.0, savers aged 60 through 63 have access to a higher catch-up amount than the standard 50-plus catch-up.
• Total additions to the plan (employee, employer, and any after-tax) are subject to a separate overall annual limit.

Because these figures are indexed each year, this page treats limits as a note rather than a hard input. Confirm the current year's exact numbers before finalizing a plan.

Traditional 401(k) vs Roth 401(k)

Contributions to a traditional 401(k) reduce this year's taxable income and grow tax-deferred. Every dollar withdrawn in retirement is ordinary income. Contributions to a Roth 401(k) are made with after-tax dollars and qualified withdrawals are tax-free. The practical decision usually hinges on whether the saver expects a higher, similar, or lower marginal tax bracket in retirement than they are in today. Many savers benefit from holding both.

Vesting

Employee contributions are always 100% vested (your money, your rules). Employer contributions may follow a vesting schedule (cliff or graded) so that the match becomes fully yours over a period of years of service. Vesting matters most when changing jobs mid-schedule, because unvested employer dollars are typically forfeited on departure.

Why starting early dominates

Compounding rewards time. A dollar contributed at age 25 has forty years to grow before a typical retirement date; a dollar contributed at age 45 has twenty. At a 7% annual return, the age-25 dollar grows to roughly $15, while the age-45 dollar grows to about $3.87. That is why early-career savers should prioritize capturing the match even when contributing feels difficult, and why late starters usually need to raise the contribution rate meaningfully to reach the same goal.