Advance Your Future with 401k Forecasting
Estimate your retirement nest egg with precision. Model employee contributions, company matching formulas, annual raises, and multi-year vesting schedules. View inflation-adjusted purchasing power and export your complete growth ledger.
How the 401k Calculator Works
Calculate your future balance, employer match levels, and vested equity in three simple steps.
Enter Salary & Savings Rate
Input your current annual salary, expected yearly raise percentage, and the pre-tax share you plan to contribute to your account.
Configure Employer Match
Add company match details (e.g. 50% match up to 6% of salary) and select your graded or cliff vesting schedule parameters.
Audit Growth & Vested Equity
Examine the compounding ledger, adjust expected inflation to calculate real value, and export your detailed growth schedule to CSV.
Why use our 401k Simulator?
Retirement planning requires factoring in salary growth, inflation, IRS contribution limits, and complex vesting matrices.
100% Client-Side Privacy
Your salary, savings rate, and financial balances are processed entirely inside your browser. No financial details are ever stored or sent to external servers.
Vesting Schedule simulator
Accurately model how much of your employer match you actually own over time, using cliff or graded structures (e.g. 20% growth per year).
IRS Limits & Catch-up Rules
Automatically applies annual pre-tax contribution caps (such as the 2024 limit of $23,000) and unlocks an additional $7,500 catch-up option when you reach age 50.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to popular questions about pre-tax contributions, matches, and vesting rules.
Q.What is a 401(k) employer match limit?
An employer match limit is the maximum share of your salary your employer will match. For example, if they offer a 50% match up to 6% of your salary, and you earn $100,000, they will match half of your contributions up to an employee deposit of $6,000, making the maximum employer contribution $3,000.
Q.How does a vesting schedule affect my 401(k) balance?
A vesting schedule determines how much of your employer's matched contributions you legally own. If you leave the company before becoming fully vested, you will forfeit the unvested portion. Your own contributions are always 100% vested and cannot be taken back.
Q.How does inflation impact my retirement savings?
Inflation reduces the future purchasing power of your money. A nominal balance of $1,000,000 in 30 years might only buy what $450,000 buys today at a 2.5% inflation rate. Adjusting for inflation helps you understand the real purchasing power of your nest egg.
Q.What are the catch-up contributions for age 50 and older?
The IRS allows employees aged 50 and above to make extra pre-tax contributions beyond the baseline annual limits. This "catch-up contribution" allows older employees to accelerate their savings as they near retirement.