401(k) Calculator
Your 401(k) balance at retirement, with employer match included.
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A 401(k) projection has three engines — your contributions, your employer's match, and decades of compounding — and the match is the only one that's literally free money. This calculator projects the balance at retirement with all three running.
How it works
Monthly deposits are (your % + employer match %) × salary ÷ 12. The current balance compounds at (1+r)ⁿ and deposits grow by the future-value-of-annuity factor, using the monthly rate.
Each month, (your percentage + the employer match percentage) of your salary goes in. The current balance compounds at the monthly rate, and the stream of new deposits grows by the future-value-of-annuity factor. The result splits into what you put in, what your employer added, and what the market did.
The projection holds salary flat, which makes it conservative — every raise increases the dollar contributions. It also ignores the IRS annual contribution limit, which only binds at high salaries and rates; if your percentage of salary exceeds the limit, the real deposits cap there.
Monthly deposit = salary × (your % + match %) ÷ 12. Future value = balance × (1+r)ⁿ + deposit × ((1+r)ⁿ − 1) ÷ r, with r the monthly return and n the number of months.
Worked examples
$10,000 saved, $80,000 salary, 8% contribution with a 4% match, 7% return, 25 years. → About $705,000 at retirement.
Deposits are $800/month. You contribute $160,000 over the period, the employer adds $80,000, and growth supplies roughly $455,000 — compounding does most of the work.
The same saver without the 4% employer match. → Roughly $216,000 less at retirement.
The match is a third of the monthly deposit, and every matched dollar compounds for the same 25 years as your own.
Tips & gotchas
- Contribute at least enough to capture the full match before funding any other account — a 100% instant return precedes all other advice.
- Match formulas vary ('100% of the first 4%', '50% of the first 6%') — this calculator wants the effective match as a percent of your salary.
- Increase your rate one point with every raise; you'll never miss money you never saw in the paycheck.
FAQ
Does this account for salary growth?
No — it holds salary flat, which makes the projection conservative. Raises push the real number higher.
What return should I assume?
7% is a common long-run assumption for a diversified stock-heavy portfolio. Use 5–6% to be conservative or as retirement nears and the mix shifts toward bonds.
Does this include the IRS contribution limit?
No — it applies your percentages directly. If salary × your rate exceeds the annual employee limit, actual deposits cap at the limit and the projection overshoots.
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