CalcVerse

401(k) Calculator

Your 401(k) grows from your own payroll deferrals, your employer’s match and investment returns. Deferrals are capped at the IRS limits for 2026, including catch-up contributions from age 50.

Also called: 401(k) match calculator

  • Last updated
  • Formula tested against reference values
  • Applies to: United States

Your numbers

From your plan documents, e.g. 50% means 50 cents per dollar you defer.

Example rate: an assumption, not a forecast.

Result

Balance at retirement
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Calculating…

Your contributions
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Employer contributions
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Investment growth
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Balance in today’s money
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You contribute this year
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Employer adds this year
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How to use this calculator

  1. Enter or choose current age.
  2. Enter or choose retirement age.
  3. Enter or choose annual salary.
  4. Enter or choose expected pay rise.
  5. Enter or choose your contribution.
  6. The balance at retirement updates as you type. Use Copy result or Share to keep it.

Method

Each year: Yours = min(Contribution% × Salary, IRS limit for your age); Match = Match% × min(Yours, Match limit% × Salary); Balance = Balance × (1 + Return) + Yours + Match; Salary rises by the pay-rise rate

IRS limit
$24,500 in 2026; $32,500 from age 50; $35,750 at ages 60–63
Match%
share of your deferral your employer adds
Match limit%
the salary percentage the match applies to

Worked example

  1. Year 1: you defer 6% × 60,000 = $3,600 (below the $24,500 limit); the employer adds 50% × 3,600 = $1,800.
  2. Each year the salary rises 2%, so contributions rise too; the balance earns 6%.
  3. After 35 years: $179,980.12 from you, $89,990.06 from your employer and growth bring the balance to $844,497.50.

Deferring 6% with a 50% match on a $60,000 salary could grow to about $844,500 by age 65 at a 6% return.

What the result means

Contribute at least enough to get the full employer match: it is an immediate return on your money. The today’s-money figure shows the balance in current purchasing power.

Assumptions and limits

  • Contributions go in at the end of each year and the return is constant.
  • Elective deferrals are capped at the 2026 IRS limits for every projected year (the limits usually rise with inflation, so this is cautious for high savers).
  • The age-based catch-up uses your age in each projected year; the employer match is not separately capped.
  • The overall annual-additions limit, vesting schedules, plan fees and taxes on withdrawals are not modelled.
  • Roth versus pre-tax treatment does not change the balance shown here, only the tax due later.
Jurisdiction
United States
Rates effective from
1 January 2026
Authority
Internal Revenue Service
Rates last checked
29 October 2026

Questions

What are the 401(k) limits for 2026?

The IRS set the elective-deferral limit at $24,500 for 2026. Savers aged 50 or over can add an $8,000 catch-up, and those aged 60 to 63 can add $11,250 instead.

Does the employer match count towards my $24,500 limit?

No. The elective-deferral limit applies to your own contributions; employer contributions fall under a separate, higher overall limit.

Sources

Please note: Returns are illustrations at a constant rate, not predictions or guarantees. Investments can lose value. This is not investment advice.