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401k Calculator
Are you leaving employer match on the table? This 401k calculator projects what your 401(k) could be worth at retirement and puts a dollar figure on the unclaimed match when you contribute below your plan's cap.
See how this works on a $70,000 salary — 3 real examples
Employer match
Projected 401(k) balance at retirement
$0
Your contributions
$0
Employer match
$0
Investment growth
$0
In today’s dollars
$0
The same balance, read two ways — the dollars never change, only what they’re worth.
- — Projected balance at retirement
- — What it buys, in today’s money
- — Purchasing power lost to inflation (assumed, not a fee)
Where your balance comes from, by age
IRS limits & data source
Last reviewedYear-by-year 401(k) scheduleSalary, contributions, match, growth and balance each year
| Age | Salary | Your contribution | Employer match | Growth | End balance |
|---|
How your 401(k) balance and employer match are figured
The projection runs one year at a time from your current age to your retirement age. Each year the calculator grows the running balance, then adds new money:
end balance = (balance × (1 + return)) + your contribution + employer match
your contribution = contribution% × salary (percent mode)
your contribution = a flat $/yr, unchanged every year (dollar mode)
salary next year = salary × (1 + salary growth)
Those two entry modes are not the same election, and the difference compounds. A percent is re-applied to each year’s salary, so the dollars rise with your pay and your deferral rate never moves. A flat dollar amount does the opposite: the dollars stay put while the salary grows, so the effective deferral percent falls a little every year. Because the match is tiered off that percent, a dollar deferral can start above your match cap and quietly slide below it — so the calculator recomputes the effective percent from each year’s salary and re-tiers the match year by year, rather than converting once at today’s pay.
The employer match is tiered, and you enter the tiers as a list — one row per band, as many as your plan has. Each tier matches your contributions within a band of salary at that tier’s rate, and the caps are cumulative: a 100%-up-to-3% plus 50%-up-to-5% plan pays a full dollar on your first 3% of pay and fifty cents on the next 2%, then nothing beyond 5%. A three-band safe-harbor formula (100% on the first 2%, 50% on the next 2%, 25% on the next 2%) is simply three rows. For each tier the match is salary × min(remaining contribution%, tier width) × match rate, summed across tiers.
The headline free money left on the table is the honest part. Each year the calculator also computes the maximum match you could earn by contributing all the way to the top cap, and subtracts the match you actually earn. Summed over every year to retirement, that difference is the employer match you forfeit by under-contributing. It is zero the moment your contribution percent reaches the match cap — at that point you are capturing every available dollar.
The today’s-dollars figure discounts the final balance by balance / (1 + inflation)years to show real purchasing power. The 2026 IRS elective-deferral limit ($24,500, plus a catch-up of $8,000 at 50+) is shown only as a dated, editable reference — this tool never silently caps your contribution, and it does no tax-bracket math. Figures are projections based on constant return, inflation and salary-growth rates, not a forecast — real markets and pay vary year to year.
One salary, three very different retirements
The same $70,000 salary, the same thirty years — the only thing that changes is how much of each paycheck goes in.
The minimum: 3% of pay
at 65$677,581
- Thirty years of 3% contributions come to $85,193, and the employer matches every dollar of it.
- The match program tops out at 6% of pay, so stopping at 3% forfeits $28,398 of employer money.
- Growth still does most of the lifting — $482,195 of the final balance is investment return.
The smallest paycheck dent — bought by leaving $28,398 of employer money unclaimed.
Load this example (opens in a new tab)The full match: 6% of pay
at 65$1,002,431
- Doubling the contribution adds $324,850 to the finish, because the employer's full $113,591 now arrives.
- Of the seven-figure balance, only $170,386 ever came out of a paycheck.
- At 3% inflation, $1,002,431 three decades from now buys what $412,988 does today.
No later dollar works this hard — the first 6% is the highest-value money on the page.
Load this example (opens in a new tab)Pushing past the match: 10% of pay
at 65$1,327,281
- The finish rises by another $324,850 — the same gain as the previous step, with no new employer money in it.
- Earning it takes $113,591 more from paychecks, where the move from 3% to 6% needed $85,193.
- In today's money that balance is $546,822, nearly a third more than the full-match outcome.
The same $324,850 gain as the last step, but every extra dollar behind it is your own.
Load this example (opens in a new tab)Illustrations only, not financial advice. Your own rate, taxes and insurance will differ — check with a qualified financial advisor before acting on any of this.
Getting the most from your 401(k), in plain English
- Capture the whole match first. Contributing below your match cap is the one place you can earn an instant 50–100% return — the calculator prices that forfeited match in real dollars over your career.
- Growth eventually dwarfs deposits. Over a few decades, investment growth becomes the biggest slice of your balance — the stacked chart shows the moment it overtakes what you and your employer put in.
- Raises compound too — but only if your contribution is a percent. A percent-of-pay deferral rises with every raise, so a modest salary-growth assumption meaningfully lifts the ending balance. A flat dollar deferral does not move at all, and its share of pay falls each year — switch between the two entry modes to see the gap that opens up.
- Watch the real number. A seven-figure future balance buys far less in 30 years; the today’s-dollars figure keeps expectations honest.
- Limits are a ceiling, not a target for most. The 2026 deferral limit is $24,500, but the first milestone that matters is simply contributing enough to leave no match unclaimed.
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Frequently asked questions
How does 401(k) employer matching work?
Your employer contributes to your 401(k) based on what you put in, up to a cap set as a percent of your salary. A common formula is 100% of the first 3% of pay plus 50% of the next 2% — so contributing 5% of a $70,000 salary earns you $3,500 of your own money plus $2,800 in match. Safe-harbor plans often use three bands (100% of the first 2%, 50% of the next 2%, 25% of the next 2%); enter as many tiers as your plan has, one row each, with each row’s cap being where that band stops. If you contribute less than the top cap, you forfeit part of the match; this 401k calculator adds up exactly how much of that free money you would leave behind.
How much will my 401k be worth at retirement?
It depends on your salary, contribution rate, employer match, expected return and years until you retire. As an example, a 35-year-old earning $70,000 with a $25,000 balance who contributes 6% with a 100%/3% + 50%/2% match at a 7% return would reach roughly $1.1 million by age 65 — and more than half of that is investment growth, not the dollars you and your employer put in. Adjust any slider above to see your own projection instantly.
Am I getting the full employer match?
You get the full match only when your contribution meets or exceeds your plan’s top match cap in every year. If your employer matches up to 5% of salary and you contribute 4%, you are capturing most but not all of it — the headline figure on this calculator shows the unclaimed match in dollars over your whole career, which often runs into five or six figures. Watch this one especially if you entered a flat dollar amount: dollars that clear the cap today are a smaller share of pay after a few raises, so a contribution that starts fully matched can drift below the cap without you changing anything. Raising your contribution just to the cap is usually the highest-return move available to you.
How much should I contribute to my 401(k)?
At a minimum, contribute enough to capture the entire employer match — anything less is turning down free money. Many planners then target 10–15% of gross pay (including the match) toward retirement. Enter your contribution whichever way your plan quotes it — a percent of pay or a flat dollar amount per year — and watch the projected balance and the unclaimed-match figure change as you increase it.
What is the annual 401(k) contribution limit?
For 2026 the IRS elective-deferral limit is $24,500, with an additional $8,000 catch-up if you are 50 or older. This calculator shows that limit as a dated, informational reference and does not silently cap your entry, so you can model any contribution and see when you would bump against it. Employer match dollars do not count toward your elective-deferral limit.
How is my future 401(k) balance projected?
Each year the calculator grows your existing balance at your expected return, then adds your contribution plus the tiered employer match, and raises your salary by your assumed growth rate. It repeats that year by year until your retirement age. Your contribution is your contribution percent times that year’s salary if you entered a percent, or the same flat dollar amount every year if you entered dollars — and in that dollar case the calculator converts back to an effective percent of that year’s salary before applying the match tiers, because a fixed amount is a shrinking share of a rising salary. The final balance is also shown in today’s dollars so you can judge its real purchasing power.
Disclaimer: these calculators are educational tools, not financial advice. They model your inputs with published formulas, but they cannot know your full situation — for decisions with real stakes, talk to a qualified professional. Formulas and defaults last reviewed .