401(k) Calculator
Project your 401(k) balance at retirement with your contribution rate, employer match, salary growth, fees, and historical return assumptions. Free, sourced, no signup.
Last reviewed: · Reviewed by the Money Scale editorial team · How we source our data
Power mode. Every input exposed, every assumption sourced, charts and shareables.
$25,000
$80,000
10% of salary
50% match (e.g. 50% = $0.50 per $1)
Match applies to first 6% of salary
3% / year
7% expected return
0.10% expense ratio
Age 30 today
Retire at 65
Projected balance at age 65
$2,438,904
Your contributions
$483,697
Employer match
$145,109
Investment growth
$1,785,099
Monthly contribution (year 1)
$867
You + employer combined
Match value over career
$145,109
Free money — don't leave it on the table
Years to retirement
35
Age 30 → 65
- Contributions
- Growth
💼 $2,438,904 at 65
Contributing 10% of a $80,000 salary with a 50% match on the first 6% — projected to $2,438,904 by age 65.
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The 401(k) Projection Calculator models your career-long balance including employee contributions, employer match formulas, salary growth, expected return, and plan fees. The 2026 IRS employee contribution limit is $24,500 ($32,000 with the catch-up at 50+). Match captured matters more than rate of return for the first 5–10 years — it's the highest-return action available in personal finance, full stop.
Free, private, and no signup
Money Scale is built the opposite way from the big finance sites: the numbers you enter never leave your device, and there's nothing to sign up for.
- Your numbers stay privateEvery calculation runs in your browser. We never receive or store your salary, balances, or inputs.
- Always freeNo paywall, no upsell to a calculator that actually works.
- No login, no emailUse every tool instantly — we never gate results behind a signup.
- Sourced defaultsStarting rates and assumptions cite real data, not made-up numbers.
Keeping it free and unfunded by your data still costs us hosting and data fees every month. If a calculator here helped, you're welcome to buy us a coffee — completely optional, and nothing here is ever locked behind it.
How this calculator works
- Enter your current 401(k) balance (use $0 if you're starting fresh).
- Enter your salary and contribution rate (% of salary). Aim for at least the match cap to capture every dollar of free money.
- Enter your employer's match formula. The most common is '50% on the first 6%' — meaning contributing 6% gets you another 3% from your employer.
- Set expected annual return (7% real is reasonable for a diversified portfolio) and plan fees (under 0.5% is normal for index-fund options).
- Enter your current age and retirement age. The chart shows your trajectory year-by-year, separating your contributions, the employer match, and investment growth.
balance_y+1 = (balance_y + employee + match) × (1 + r − fees) where match = min(employee, cap) × match_rateYear-by-year recursion. Each year: employee contributes a % of (growing) salary. Employer matches up to a cap. Total contributions earn the net return. Repeat to retirement age. The match formula caps how much free money you can capture — contribute at least the cap to get it all.
- employee
- Your contribution this year (salary × contribution rate, capped by IRS limit)
- match
- Employer match (formula-driven; common: 50% on first 6%)
- cap
- Match cap as a % of salary (employer-defined)
- match_rate
- Employer match rate (e.g., 50% means $0.50 per $1)
- r
- Expected annual return
- fees
- Plan expense ratio + advisor fees
Frequently asked questions
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Retirement Planner
See what this balance actually supports once you stop working, and what tax comes out of it.
Open the Retirement PlannerFree, no signup, runs in your browser. Educational modeling only — not financial advice.