401(k) Calculator
Project your 401(k) with your employer's match, the 2026 IRS limits and catch-up contributions, and see any match you miss.
The age you reach in 2026
A year, before tax
Year-by-year breakdown
| Year | Age | Salary ($) | Your contributions ($) | Employer match ($) | Growth ($) | Balance ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | – | – | – | – | – | 25,000 |
| 2026 | 30 | 75,000 | 4,500 | 2,250 | 1,964 | 33,714 |
| 2027 | 31 | 77,250 | 4,635 | 2,318 | 2,580 | 43,247 |
| 2028 | 32 | 79,568 | 4,774 | 2,387 | 3,254 | 53,662 |
| 2029 | 33 | 81,955 | 4,917 | 2,458 | 3,991 | 65,028 |
| 2030 | 34 | 84,413 | 5,065 | 2,533 | 4,792 | 77,418 |
| 2031 | 35 | 86,946 | 5,217 | 2,608 | 5,667 | 90,910 |
Projects a US 401(k) balance to retirement, in dollars, from your salary, the percent of pay you defer and your employer's match, under the 2026 IRS limits. It shows the balance split into your contributions, the match and growth, the lowest contribution that earns the full match, and the match you lose when contributions reach the limit early in a plan without a true-up. The same deferral and catch-up limits apply to 403(b) plans and the Thrift Savings Plan; a 403(b) may also allow an extra catch-up after 15 years with one employer, which the tool leaves out.
How to use it
- Your age — the age you reach in 2026. Each year of the projection is a calendar year, and the catch-up follows the age you reach in it, as the IRS rule does.
- Contribution (% of pay) — your deferral, on pay up to the $ 360,000 a plan may count. Anything above the year's limit is not paid in.
- Employer match — two common formulas, the basic and automatic-enrolment safe harbor formulas from the tax code, a common design that passes the enhanced safe harbor test, or a custom match of up to three tiers, each up to 100% of what you defer, with an optional yearly cap.
- Employer trues up the match — on by default. Off, each paycheck is matched on its own deferral, so pay frequency matters.
- Today's money — the balance divided by the inflation since 2026. Limits rise with inflation raises each limit by the inflation rate, rounded down as the IRS rounds it; without it every year keeps 2026's limits.
- Wages from this employer over $ 150,000 in 2025 — shown from 50, for the Roth catch-up rule below.
How it works
Each tier matches its percent of what you defer on the next slice of pay. The match is then capped by the plan's yearly cap and by the $ 72,000 limit on all additions (or 100% of pay, if that is less), less your own deferrals. Catch-ups do not count toward that limit, so from 50 the total paid in a year can pass $ 72,000 by up to the catch-up.
With a true-up, the year's match is worked out on the year's deferral. Without one, each paycheck earns a match only on its own deferral, so a high percentage that reaches the limit by autumn leaves the rest of the year's paychecks unmatched.
The first year is the whole of 2026, added to today's balance whatever the date. Each year's contributions are spread evenly over its months and grow at the return, compounded yearly. Totals are in whole dollars.
Deferral = min(contribution % × min(salary, pay cap), elective limit + catch-up)
Match = Σ tier rate × deferral % within the tier × pay, capped by the plan cap and by min(415(c) limit, pay) − (deferral − catch-up)
Examples
50% up to 6% of pay
At 30, earning $ 75,000 with a 3% raise each year, deferring 6% and starting from $ 25,000 at a 7% return, the balance reaches $ 1,635,798 at 65: $ 272,079 of your contributions, $ 136,040 of match and $ 1,202,679 of growth. The first year's match is $ 2,250.
Safe harbor basic
The basic formula matches 100% of the first 3% of pay and 50% of the next 2%. On $ 75,000, deferring 3% earns $ 2,250; deferring 5% earns the full $ 3,000, a 4% match for 5% of pay.
Age 61 with the super catch-up
25% of $ 150,000 asks for $ 37,500 a year. At 61, 62 and 63 the limit is $ 35,750, with the $ 11,250 catch-up; at 64 it falls back to $ 32,500. With $ 25,000 to start, 50% matched up to 6% of pay and a 7% return, the balance at 65 is $ 213,788.
Missing the match by front-loading
On $ 300,000 paid every two weeks, deferring 20% reaches $ 24,500 in the 11th paycheck. With 50% up to 6% and no true-up, the match stops there: $ 3,808 instead of $ 9,000, so $ 5,192 is lost. Spreading the same $ 24,500 over the year, about 8.17% of pay, keeps the whole match.
2026 limits by age
| Age in the year | Catch-up | Deferral limit |
|---|---|---|
| Under 50 | None | $ 24,500 |
| 50 to 59 | $ 8,000 | $ 32,500 |
| 60 to 63 | $ 11,250 | $ 35,750 |
| 64 and over | $ 8,000 | $ 32,500 |
Rules and sources
Limits for 2026 (Notice 2025-67): elective deferrals $ 24,500; the catch-up from 50 $ 8,000; the catch-up in the years you turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 $ 11,250, in place of the other; all additions to the account except catch-ups $ 72,000 or 100% of pay, whichever is less (section 415(c)); pay a plan may count $ 360,000 (section 401(a)(17)).
Roth catch-ups. From 2026, an employee whose FICA wages from the employer in the year before were over $ 150,000 must make any catch-up as Roth contributions (section 414(v)(7)); Notice 2023-62 held the rule back until then. A plan with no Roth option cannot take catch-ups from those employees. The final regulations (T.D. 10033) apply from 2027, and plans follow a reasonable, good-faith reading of the rule in 2026.
Safe harbor matches. The basic match is 100% of the first 3% of pay deferred and 50% of the next 2% (section 401(k)(12)(B)(i)). An enhanced match must never rise in rate as the deferral rises, and must give at least the basic match at every deferral rate (section 401(k)(12)(B)(iii)); 100% of the first 4% is a common design that does. A match on deferrals above 6% of pay falls outside the matching safe harbor (section 401(m)(11)(B)(i)). An automatic enrolment plan (QACA) may match 100% of the first 1% and 50% of the next 5% (section 401(k)(13)(D)(i)(I)). The 100%-up-to-3% and 50%-up-to-6% presets are common formulas, not rules. Your plan's formula may differ; check your summary plan description.
Sources
- Notice 2025-67, 2026 amounts relating to retirement plans and IRAs — Internal Revenue Service
- IR-2025-111, 401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026 — Internal Revenue Service
- COLA increases for dollar limitations on benefits and contributions — Internal Revenue Service
- 26 U.S.C. 401, Qualified plans — U.S. Government Publishing Office
- 26 U.S.C. 414(v), Catch-up contributions — U.S. Government Publishing Office
- 26 U.S.C. 415(c), Limitation for defined contribution plans — U.S. Government Publishing Office
- Notice 2023-62, Roth catch-up administrative transition period — Internal Revenue Service
- T.D. 10033, Catch-up contributions (final regulations) — Federal Register
Reviewed
Frequently asked questions
See also
- Retirement Calculator — to check the balance lasts through retirement.
- FIRE Calculator — for the savings that would let you stop work early.
- Investment Calculator — for savings outside a workplace plan.