401(k) Calculator
Project your 401(k) at retirement from your salary, contribution rate, and employer match, and see how much comes from your employer and from compounding.
Your details
Contributions and employer match
e.g. 100% = dollar-for-dollar
Employer matches up to this % of salary (salary above $360,000 is ignored)
Return assumption
Results are in future dollars. To see today's dollars, enter your return minus expected inflation.
Projected 401(k) at Retirement
Your Contributions
Employer Match (free money)
Investment Growth
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Projections add each year's contributions at year-end, grow the balance at your expected return and raise your salary at the growth rate. Your contribution is capped at the 2026 IRS limit for your age each year: $24,500 under 50, $32,500 at 50–59 and 64+, and $35,750 at 60–63. The match is based on your actual contribution and on pay up to $360,000, and employee plus employer contributions (excluding catch-ups) are kept within $72,000. Limits are held at 2026 levels for future years, although the IRS normally raises them with inflation. Results are indicative only, not investment advice.
What is a 401(k) Calculator?
A 401(k) calculator projects how large your workplace retirement account will grow by the time you retire. It works from your own contributions, your employer's match, investment growth and the number of years you stay invested. Small changes to any of these, especially starting earlier or capturing the full match, can make a large difference to the final balance.
This calculator separates your projected balance into its three sources (your money, your employer's match, and investment growth) so you can see exactly how much of your retirement is being funded by "free" employer dollars and by compounding rather than by your paycheck alone.
Worked example: $80,000 salary, 10% contribution, 4% match
Illustrative example, using the calculator’s default inputs. You are 30, working in the US on an H-1B, earning $80,000 with $10,000 already in your 401(k). You contribute 10% of salary, your employer matches 100% of the first 4%, pay rises 3% a year and the account earns 7% a year until you retire at 65.
The calculator projects about $2.31M at 65 ($2,308,327 in future dollars). Of that, $483.7K is your own contributions, $193.5K is employer match and $1.62M is investment growth. Your contribution stays under the IRS limit for your age in every year, so no cap applies.
Growth does most of the work, so the years you stay invested matter more than anything else. The $2.31M is in future dollars. Enter 4% as the return (7% minus about 3% inflation) and the balance is about $1.31M in today’s money. If you might move back to India before 65, the balance on your move date is the number to plan around.
How the Employer Match Works
A common match formula is "100% of the first 4% of salary." That means if you contribute at least 4% of your pay, your employer adds another 4%. On that part of your pay, you double your money the day you contribute. Contributing less than the match threshold leaves part of your compensation unclaimed.
Set the Employer match (%) to how much of your contribution the company matches (100% = dollar-for-dollar, 50% = fifty cents on the dollar) and Match Up To (%) to the salary percentage the match is capped at. The calculator warns you if your contribution rate is below the level needed to capture the full match.
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