Retirement Calculator (with 401(k) mode)
Project your nest egg — salary contributions, employer match and growth, all in.
Retirement math has three engines: what you put in, what your employer adds, and what the market compounds. This calculator runs all three year by year, salary growing as you go, and splits the final balance into exactly those parts so you can see which engine is doing the work.
How to use
- Enter your age, planned retirement age and what you have already invested.
- Add salary, your contribution % and the employer match % — this is the 401(k) mode: your contributions are automatically capped at the IRS limit for your age each year.
- Set salary growth, expected return and inflation. The "today's dollars" figure strips inflation out of the projection.
- Optionally set a target nest egg to see a surplus or the shortfall — and what extra monthly saving closes it.
About this tool
The 401(k) mode is built in rather than bolted on: contributions are capped at the IRS elective deferral limit for tax year 2026, including the age-50 catch-up and the SECURE 2.0 higher catch-up at ages 60–63. The employer match is not capped by that limit (a separate overall cap exists but rarely binds).
The honest caveat: the model grows your money at one smooth rate. Real returns arrive in lumps, and a crash just before retirement hurts more than one just after. Use the projection as a planning compass — and re-run it at a lower return to see your pessimistic case. Everything runs in your browser.
How it works
Each year: balance = balance × (1 + return) + your contribution + employer match. Your contribution is salary × contribution %, capped at the IRS 401(k) limit for your age that year; salary grows at your salary-growth rate. "Investment growth" in the results is simply the final balance minus your starting savings and all contributions — the part compounding earned.
Today's-dollars value = projected balance ÷ (1 + inflation)^years. The extra-saving suggestion for a shortfall divides the gap by the future-value annuity factor ((1 + return)^years − 1) ÷ return.
Worked examples
Growth-only check: $100,000 already invested, no salary contributions, 7% return for 20 years: 100,000 × 1.07^20 = $386,968. Set salary and contributions to 0 and the calculator reproduces exactly that — the contributions and match layers sit on top of plain compounding.
Frequently asked questions
What return should I assume?
US stocks have averaged about 10% a year before inflation over very long periods; balanced portfolios less. Many planners project 6–8% nominal for a stock-heavy portfolio. Whatever you pick, also run 2 points lower — the gap between the two runs is your uncertainty range.
Why is there an IRS cap in a projection?
Because a 401(k) will not let you contribute more than the legal limit, however high your % is. Ignoring the cap overstates the balance for high earners. The limits shown are for tax year 2026 and typically rise with inflation.
Does this include Social Security or pensions?
No — deliberately. Treat those as a separate income layer on top of this nest egg; the target you set can be lower because of them.
What does "in today's dollars" mean?
The projected balance discounted back at your inflation rate — what the future sum would feel like in current purchasing power. A $1.5M balance in 32 years at 2.5% inflation spends like about $680k today.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. Every calculation runs in your browser. Nothing you type ever leaves your device.
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