Enter your contribution, salary and employer match. See free money, tax savings, and compounded value.
This calculator projects how your 401k balance will grow over time based on your contribution rate, employer match, current balance, and expected return — while also showing the immediate tax savings from contributing pre-tax dollars. It's for employees who want to see whether they're on track and understand the full value of their employer's matching contribution.
Your annual contribution (salary × contribution %) plus any employer match is added to your current balance, then the entire portfolio compounds at your chosen return rate each year. The tax savings component calculates your reduced annual taxable income: contributing $10,000 to a traditional 401k at a 22% marginal rate saves $2,200 in income taxes in the year of contribution — effectively reducing the real cost of that $10,000 to $7,800.
Not capturing the full employer match is the single most common — and costly — financial mistake American workers make. The average employer match is 4.7% of salary. An employee earning $60,000 who doesn't maximize their match leaves $2,820 per year on the table. Over 30 years at 7% returns, that uncaptured match is worth over $285,000 in foregone retirement wealth.