See what your contributions and your employer's match grow into — and whether you're leaving free money on the table.
Balance at retirement
$2,153,967
In today's money, about $765,484.
Free money at 6% contribution.
After 3% inflation.
Over 35 years, you contribute $290,218 and your employer adds $290,218. The remaining $1,548,531 — 72% of the total — is investment growth. In today's money, that $2,153,967 is worth about $765,484 after 3% inflation.
Contributing 6% meets or exceeds your employer's 6% match limit, so you're collecting all $4,800 of available match this year. That's the most important box to tick — everything beyond it is about how much more tax-advantaged growth you want.
Raising your rate by 3 points costs about $200 a month before tax — less after, since 401(k) contributions lower your taxable income. Over 35 years the extra compounding lifts the balance to $2,625,730. Contribution rate is the lever you fully control, and early in a career it matters far more than chasing a higher return.
A projected balance only matters against what you'll need to spend. A common target is 25× your annual retirement spending. Run your number through the retirement calculator to see whether $2.2M supports the lifestyle you're planning, or whether the gap needs a higher savings rate.
Check your full retirement planWorked scenarios with the full analysis, so you can see how the numbers move before entering your own.
A mid-career saver contributing exactly enough to capture a standard dollar-for-dollar match up to 6% of salary.
Balance at retirement
$2,153,967
Over 35 years, you contribute $290,218 and your employer adds $290,218. The remaining $1,548,531 — 72% of the total — is investment growth. In today's money, that $2,153,967 is worth about $765,484 after 3% inflation.
Contributing 6% meets or exceeds your employer's 6% match limit, so you're collecting all $4,800 of available match this year. That's the most important box to tick — everything beyond it is about how much more tax-advantaged growth you want.
Raising your rate by 3 points costs about $200 a month before tax — less after, since 401(k) contributions lower your taxable income. Over 35 years the extra compounding lifts the balance to $2,625,730. Contribution rate is the lever you fully control, and early in a career it matters far more than chasing a higher return.
A younger saver leaving part of the employer match unclaimed, the most common and costly 401(k) mistake.
Balance at retirement
$1,128,990
Over 40 years, you contribute $135,722 and your employer adds $135,722. The remaining $852,546 — 76% of the total — is investment growth. In today's money, that $1,128,990 is worth about $346,100 after 3% inflation.
Your employer matches up to 6% of salary, but you only contribute 3%. Raising your contribution to 6% would capture an extra $1,800 a year in employer money — an instant, guaranteed return of 100% on those dollars that no investment can match. This is the highest-priority change on this page.
A projected balance only matters against what you'll need to spend. A common target is 25× your annual retirement spending. Run your number through the retirement calculator to see whether $1.1M supports the lifestyle you're planning, or whether the gap needs a higher savings rate.
Check your full retirement planA later starter contributing aggressively to close the gap, showing how a high savings rate compounds over 25 years.
Balance at retirement
$2,058,323
Over 25 years, you contribute $539,668 and your employer adds $120,316. The remaining $1,308,339 — 64% of the total — is investment growth. In today's money, that $2,058,323 is worth about $983,067 after 3% inflation.
Contributing 15% meets or exceeds your employer's 6% match limit, so you're collecting all $3,300 of available match this year. That's the most important box to tick — everything beyond it is about how much more tax-advantaged growth you want.
Raising your rate by 3 points costs about $275 a month before tax — less after, since 401(k) contributions lower your taxable income. Over 25 years the extra compounding lifts the balance to $2,190,910. Contribution rate is the lever you fully control, and early in a career it matters far more than chasing a higher return.
The same starting point as the first example but with a more cautious return assumption, illustrating how much the assumed return moves the outcome.
Balance at retirement
$1,434,934
Over 35 years, you contribute $290,218 and your employer adds $290,218. The remaining $829,498 — 58% of the total — is investment growth. In today's money, that $1,434,934 is worth about $509,952 after 3% inflation.
Contributing 6% meets or exceeds your employer's 6% match limit, so you're collecting all $4,800 of available match this year. That's the most important box to tick — everything beyond it is about how much more tax-advantaged growth you want.
Raising your rate by 3 points costs about $200 a month before tax — less after, since 401(k) contributions lower your taxable income. Over 35 years the extra compounding lifts the balance to $1,759,192. Contribution rate is the lever you fully control, and early in a career it matters far more than chasing a higher return.
A 401(k) grows from three sources: the money you contribute, the money your employer contributes as a match, and the investment growth on both over time. For a young saver, contributions dominate the early years; for someone within a decade of retirement, growth on the existing balance does most of the work.
Contributions come out of your paycheck before income tax in a traditional 401(k), so a $6,000 annual contribution reduces this year's taxable income by $6,000 — the true cost to your take-home pay is less than the amount saved. The balance then grows tax-deferred, and you pay ordinary income tax only when you withdraw in retirement.
The single most important thing any 401(k) participant can do is contribute at least enough to capture the full employer match. A typical match of 100% up to 6% of salary is an immediate, guaranteed 100% return on those dollars — nothing else in finance comes close.
Leaving match unclaimed is startlingly common and startlingly expensive. On an $80,000 salary, contributing 3% instead of 6% forfeits about $2,400 of free employer money every single year, compounded for decades. If you can only afford one financial move, make it capturing the full match.
Long projections are extremely sensitive to the assumed return. The US stock market has returned roughly 10% annually before inflation over the long run, but planning at 6–7% is wiser: it builds in a margin of safety, and it roughly reflects the inflation-adjusted 'real' return that actually determines your future purchasing power.
This is why the calculator also shows your balance in today's money. A projected $2 million sounds transformative, but after 35 years of 3% inflation it buys closer to what $700,000 buys now. Any retirement projection that reports only the nominal future balance is telling you less than half the story.
Anything under the match limit forfeits guaranteed employer money — the costliest and most common 401(k) mistake. Capture the full match before any other savings goal except a small emergency fund.
Planning at the pre-inflation historical average over-states your real future purchasing power. Use 6–7% and check the inflation-adjusted figure.
Withdrawing a 401(k) early triggers income tax plus a 10% penalty and erases decades of compounding. Roll it into an IRA or the new employer's plan instead.
Auto-enrollment often defaults to 3%, below most match limits and well below what's needed to retire comfortably. Raise it deliberately.
A 1% versus 0.1% expense ratio can cost a third of your balance over a career. Pick the low-cost index options your plan offers.
It depends on your contribution rate, employer match, current balance, years until retirement and investment return. Enter those and the calculator projects the balance year by year. As an example, a 30-year-old earning $80,000, contributing 6% with a full match and earning 7%, is on track for roughly $1.3 million by 65 — about half of which is investment growth.
At an absolute minimum, contribute enough to capture the full employer match — that's free money. Beyond that, a common target is 15% of gross income including the match, which keeps most people on track to retire in their mid-sixties. If you started late or want to retire early, you'll need more.
For 2025, the employee elective-deferral limit is $23,500, with an additional $7,500 catch-up contribution allowed at age 50 or older. Employer match does not count toward this limit. These figures are set by the IRS and change most years, so confirm the current-year number before maxing out.
No. The employee elective-deferral limit applies only to your own contributions. Employer matching and profit-sharing contributions fall under a separate, much higher overall limit, so a generous match never reduces how much you personally can defer.
Contribute to the 401(k) up to the full employer match first — always. After that, many people prefer to max an IRA next, because you control the investment menu and fees, then return to the 401(k) for additional tax-advantaged room. If your 401(k) has excellent low-cost funds, staying in it is also fine.
It hinges on whether your tax rate is higher now or in retirement. Traditional contributions are pre-tax and taxed on withdrawal — better if you expect a lower rate later. Roth contributions are after-tax and grow tax-free — better if you expect a higher rate later or want tax-free income in retirement. Many savers split the two to hedge the uncertainty.
The next calculations that usually follow this one.
Find your target, see the gap, and check whether you are leaving employer money behind.
Your savings rate sets the date far more than your income does. This shows the year.
See the balance, the split between contributions and growth, and what it actually buys.
Your headline return is not your return. See what survives fees, taxes and inflation.
Federal tax, FICA, state tax and deductions — see exactly what lands in your account.
Guides that explain the decisions behind these numbers.
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