Retirement / 401(k) / Savings Goal Calculator
Project your retirement or 401(k) balance from your current savings, contributions, employer match, and expected return — and see if you're on track to hit your savings goal.
How to use the retirement calculator
- 1
Enter your current age, retirement age, and current 401(k)/savings balance.
- 2
Enter your annual salary and the percent of salary you contribute.
- 3
Enter your employer match rate and the salary cap it applies up to.
- 4
Set an expected annual return and, optionally, a savings goal — your projected balance, contribution breakdown, and goal status update instantly.
How the projection works
Each month, the calculator adds your contribution plus your employer's match to the running balance, then applies 1/12th of your expected annual return — the same monthly compounding math used by our Compound Interest Calculator, extended to include an employer match on top of your own contribution.
Worked example: a 30-year-old with a $20,000 balance, a $70,000 salary, contributing 10% ($7,000/year), a 50% employer match up to 6% of salary (adding $2,100/year), and a 7% expected annual return, projects to roughly $1.6 million by age 65 — of which $245,000 came from personal contributions, $73,500 from employer match, and over $1.25 million from investment growth compounding over 35 years.
Understanding your employer match
| Your contribution | Match (50% up to 6% of salary) | Total going in |
|---|---|---|
| 3% of salary | 1.5% of salary | 4.5% of salary |
| 6% of salary | 3% of salary | 9% of salary |
| 10% of salary | 3% of salary (capped) | 13% of salary |
The match only grows with your contribution up to the cap — once you contribute at or above the cap, extra contributions no longer increase the match, though they still grow your own balance. Contributing less than the cap means leaving part of the match on the table entirely.
How to tell if you're on track
Enter a target dollar amount in the optional retirement savings goal field and the calculator compares it directly against your projected balance. If you're short, it also shows the total monthly contribution (yours plus employer match combined) that would close the gap at the same assumed return rate — a useful sanity check before deciding how much to increase your contribution rate.
A commonly cited rule of thumb is to have roughly 10-12 times your final annual salary saved by retirement age, though the right number for you depends heavily on your expected retirement expenses, other income sources like Social Security, and how many years you expect the balance to last. Model your own numbers above rather than relying on a single generic benchmark.
If you're also carrying debt alongside retirement savings, compare the numbers with our Mortgage & Loan Calculator to see how payoff timelines and interest costs stack up against long-term investment growth.