401(k) Calculator with Employer Match
Project your retirement balance from your contributions, your employer's matching contributions, and years of investment growth — including how much of the final number the match alone accounts for.
Your numbers
A common plan matches 50% of your contributions, up to 6% of salary — “50¢ per $1 on the first 6%.”
Your result
Before taxes — traditional 401(k) withdrawals are taxed as income in retirement. Contributions are modeled as a steady percentage of a growing salary and may exceed the IRS elective deferral limit in later years; check the current-year limit for your age.
How the 401(k) projection works
Each year, your contribution (a percentage of salary) and your employer's match are added to the balance, the whole balance grows by the expected return, and your salary rises by the growth rate — so next year's contributions are a little bigger. Repeat until retirement age and you get the projection above.
Each year: balance = balance × (1 + return) + (salary × your %) + employer match, where employer match = min(your contribution × match %, salary × cap %).
The match is the closest thing in personal finance to free money — an instant 50% or 100% return on the matched portion before any market growth. Contributing at least enough to capture the full match is usually the single highest-value move in a retirement plan, ahead of paying off low-rate debt or investing in a taxable account.
Frequently asked questions
How much can I contribute to a 401(k)?
The IRS sets an annual elective deferral limit that rises with inflation, with an extra catch-up amount allowed from age 50 (and a larger one at ages 60–63 under current law). Employer contributions don't count toward your personal limit. Because the limit changes most years, check the current figure before maxing out your percentage.
What if I contribute less than the match cap?
You're leaving part of the match unclaimed — money your employer budgeted for you that simply never reaches your account. Try the calculator above at 4% vs. 6% to see how large that gap becomes after decades of compounding.
Is an 8% return realistic?
Long-run US stock market returns have averaged roughly 10% per year before inflation, and a blended stock/bond portfolio somewhat less. This calculator uses a constant rate for clarity; real returns arrive unevenly, and a bad stretch near retirement hurts more than the same stretch early on.
Roth vs Traditional IRA Calculator
Both accounts grow the same way — the difference is when you pay tax. Compare them after tax, on an equal-cost basis, using your tax rate today versus the one you expect in retirement.
Your numbers
The same gross amount for both accounts, so the comparison is fair: a Roth contribution is what remains after paying tax on it today.
Many people land in a lower bracket in retirement — no job income, and only part of withdrawals may be taxed at the top rate.
Your result
Traditional IRA
Tax deduction now, withdrawals taxed in retirement.
Roth IRA
Taxed going in, qualified withdrawals tax-free.
Simplified comparison: a single marginal rate for each period, contributions at year-end, no state taxes, penalties, or required minimum distributions. Real outcomes also depend on future tax law, which no one can predict — one reason many savers hold some of each.
Roth vs. Traditional: it's a bet on tax rates
A Traditional IRA skips tax on money going in and charges it coming out; a Roth does the reverse. If the tax rate is the same in both periods, the result is mathematically identical — multiplication is commutative, so taxing before or after identical growth yields the same after-tax amount. The whole decision reduces to one question: is your rate higher now, or will it be higher in retirement?
Traditional after tax = contributions grown at your return × (1 − retirement rate). Roth after tax = contributions × (1 − today's rate), then grown at the same return. Above, both use the same gross amount so neither gets an unfair head start.
Beyond the math, the accounts differ in flexibility: Roth contributions (not earnings) can be withdrawn at any time without tax or penalty, Roth IRAs have no required minimum distributions in your lifetime, and Traditional deductions phase out at higher incomes for workplace-plan participants while Roth eligibility phases out on income directly. Those rules can matter as much as the rate comparison.
Frequently asked questions
What if my tax rate is the same now and in retirement?
Set both rates equal above and you'll see a tie — that's the math working correctly, not an error. In that case the tiebreakers are flexibility (favors Roth: no required distributions, contributions accessible) and any employer-plan deduction limits that apply to you.
Can I contribute to both a Roth and a Traditional IRA?
Yes — the IRS annual IRA limit applies to your combined contributions across both, not per account. Splitting contributions is a reasonable hedge when you're unsure which rate will be higher, and it gives you both taxable and tax-free buckets to draw from in retirement.
Which is better early in a career?
Often the Roth, because early-career incomes usually sit in lower brackets — you pay tax at today's low rate and never again, including on decades of growth. As income and your bracket climb, the Traditional deduction becomes more valuable. Revisit the choice whenever your income changes materially.