Estimate how your 401(k) could grow over time based on salary, employee contribution rate, employer match, investment return, and years until retirement. This free 401(k) calculator helps project your ending balance, total contributions, and employer match value.
Enter your information and click Calculate to estimate your future 401(k) balance.
This 401(k) calculator estimates how your workplace retirement plan could grow over time based on your current balance, annual salary, employee contribution rate, employer match, salary growth, and expected investment return.
It projects annual contributions through retirement, adds employer matching based on your selected match formula, and estimates long-term compounding growth. The results also include an inflation-adjusted value and a simple first-year retirement income estimate using a 4% withdrawal guideline.
This calculator models 401(k) growth by adding annual employee contributions and employer match contributions to your account and then applying compound growth each year.
The yearly employee contribution is estimated as:
Employee Contribution = Salary × Employee Contribution Rate
Employer match is estimated as:
Employer Match = min(Employee Contribution Rate, Match Limit) × Salary × Match Percentage
Account growth is then estimated using recurring contributions plus annual investment return.
If your employer offers a matching contribution, contributing enough to receive the full match can make a major difference over time.
Even small increases in your contribution percentage can meaningfully improve your projected retirement balance over decades.
Aggressive return assumptions can overstate future savings. A moderate long-term estimate is often more useful for planning.
A large future account balance may have less purchasing power than it appears today, which is why the inflation-adjusted value matters.
A 401(k) employer match is a contribution your employer makes to your retirement account based on how much you contribute, often up to a stated percentage of salary.
In many cases, yes. Contributing enough to receive the full available match is often a strong starting point because it adds more money to your account immediately.
No. This version is a general planning tool and does not apply annual IRS contribution limits, tax effects, Roth treatment, or account fees.
It is a simple estimate of what the balance might support in the first year of retirement using a 4% withdrawal guideline. It is not a guarantee and should be used only as a rough planning reference.