Interest Calculator
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401k Calculator
Projected balance with employer match and contribution limits.
—
What the balance is made of
Your contributions—
Employer match—
Growth—
| Year | You | Employer | Balance |
|---|
Balance at retirement
—
You contribute—
Employer contributes—
Growth—
This year's contribution—
This year's match—
What the fee costs
Balance with no fee—
Fees consume—
As a share of the pot—
Quick Tool Overview
The 401k Calculator projects your account to retirement and separates the three things inside it: what you contributed, what your employer matched, and what growth produced. Fees are modelled too, because one percent a year compounds against you for decades.
- What it does
- Projects a 401k balance including employer matching and fees
- You give it
- Salary, contribution rate, match terms, balance and years
- You get back
- The projected balance split into contributions, match and growth
- Best for
- Setting a contribution rate and checking your match is captured
About the 401k Calculator
Enter your salary, your contribution percentage, your employer match and your current balance to project the account forward to retirement. The result separates what you contributed, what your employer added and what growth produced.
The employer match is the part worth optimising first. A typical match of fifty percent on the first six percent of salary is an immediate fifty percent return on that portion of your contribution, which no investment reliably matches, so contributing below the match threshold leaves guaranteed money behind. Fees are the mirror image: a one percent annual fee sounds trivial but compounds against you for decades, and the calculator shows the balance with and without it so the size of that drag is not abstract.
Key features of the 401k Calculator
Employer match modelled properly
A percentage match up to a salary cap, which is how real plans work, not a flat addition.
Match threshold flagged
Contributing below the match leaves guaranteed money behind, and the calculator says how much.
Fee drag shown
The balance with and without your expense ratio, because a one percent fee can consume roughly a quarter of the final pot.
Contribution escalation
Model an annual increase in what you contribute, which most plans allow you to automate.
Growth isolated
Seeing how much of the balance is growth rather than deposits is what makes the case for starting early.
How to use the 401k Calculator
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1
Enter salary and contribution
Your annual salary and the percentage of it you contribute each pay period.
-
2
Set the employer match
The match percentage and the salary cap it applies up to, for example 50 percent up to 6 percent.
-
3
Add your current balance
What is in the account today, plus the years until you retire.
-
4
Check the fee impact
Enter your fund expense ratio to see how much of the final balance it consumes.
Frequently asked questions
At minimum, enough to capture the full employer match, because that portion is an immediate guaranteed return. Beyond that, ten to fifteen percent of salary including the match is a widely used target.
A match of fifty percent on the first six percent of salary is an instant fifty percent return on that money. No investment offers that reliably, which is why contributing below the match threshold is usually the costliest choice in retirement saving.
More than the percentage suggests, because they compound. A one percent annual fee over thirty years can consume roughly a quarter of the final balance, which is why low-cost index options matter over long horizons.
Your own contributions are always yours; employer contributions may be subject to a vesting schedule. You can usually leave the account, roll it to a new employer plan, or roll it into an IRA, which often has lower fees and more choice.
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