Capture the employer match
When affordable, contribute enough to receive the full available match. The calculator compares your entered contribution rate with the entered match ceiling.
Workplace retirement account
Measure your contribution, employer match, limits, fees, and taxes
Build a year-by-year 401(k) projection using 2026 contribution limits, age-based catch-up rules, salary growth, employer matching, investment returns, fees, inflation, and an optional early-withdrawal check.
Plan with context
The contribution rate is only one part of a workplace plan.
A useful 401(k) analysis separates employee deferrals, employer money, investment growth, fees, purchasing power, tax assumptions, and the plan rules that control access to funds.
Contribution limits change
The model starts with the 2026 employee deferral limit and applicable catch-up amount. Future limits are only estimates grown with the inflation assumption.
Pre-tax is tax-deferred
A traditional contribution may reduce current taxable wages, but withdrawals are generally taxable. The calculator shows both a current deferral estimate and an after-tax retirement value.
Fees reduce future growth
Plan and fund fees reduce the current account and the capital available to compound. The fee-impact figure includes modeled fees plus the growth those dollars could have earned.
Inflation changes meaning
A large future balance may buy less than the same number today. The real-value result discounts the projected balance using your inflation assumption.
Early access can be costly
An early distribution may face ordinary income tax and an additional 10% tax unless an exception applies. Plan withholding is not necessarily the final tax.
Included
Salary-based employee contributions, employer match formula, 2026 limits and catch-ups, salary growth, returns, fees, inflation, tax assumptions, early withdrawal, and annual schedule.
Not included
Roth versus traditional account ordering, vesting, loans, nondiscrimination testing, required distributions, Social Security, changing asset allocation, or market volatility.
Use it well
Confirm the match formula, vesting schedule, fund expense ratios, and plan fees in your employer documents, then compare several return and retirement-tax scenarios.