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The 2026 401(k) contribution limit is $24,500 ($32,500 if 50+). See your projected balance, employer match value, and whether you're on track for retirement.
Quick answer: A 30-year-old contributing $24,500 per year to a 401(k) with 4% employer match on $80,000 salary, projected at 7% annual return, accumulates approximately $2.8M by age 65. The IRS 2026 employee deferral limit is $24,500 (Notice N-25-67); catch-up contribution at age 50+ is $8,000 (or $11,250 for ages 60-63 under SECURE 2.0). Total employer + employee contribution cap (Section 415): $72,000 in 2026.
📋 Educational tool only. Not financial, tax, or investment advice. Consult a qualified financial planner.
Projected at 65
$2,508,176
Total Employer Match
$9,190
Free money from employer
Income Replacement
106%
Target: 80%+ of current salary
Your Total Contributions
$572,239
Lifetime Tax Savings
$153,756
Annual at 4% Rule
$100,327
Monthly at 4% Rule
$8,361
Age 30
$45,000
Age 35
$125,927
Age 40
$249,435
Age 45
$434,260
Age 50
$706,932
Age 55
$1,104,954
Age 60
$1,681,270
Age 65
$2,508,176
Richify AI connects this to your full retirement picture including any IRAs, HSA, and taxable accounts — and tells you if you're on track.
See Your Full Retirement Plan — Free| Limit Type | 2026 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Employee Contribution | $24,500 | Pre-tax or Roth 401(k) |
| Catch-Up (50+) | $8,000 | Additional above standard limit |
| Total Employee (50+) | $32,500 | Standard + catch-up |
| Total (incl. Employer) | $72,000 | All contributions combined |
Most employers now offer both Traditional and Roth 401(k) options. Traditional 401(k) contributions are pre-tax — they reduce your taxable income now, but withdrawals in retirement are taxed as ordinary income. Roth 401(k) contributions are after-tax — no deduction now, but all withdrawals in retirement are completely tax-free. The same $24,500 limit applies whether you choose Traditional, Roth, or a split.
The most painless way to reach the maximum contribution: increase your contribution rate by 1% every time you get a raise. You never feel the difference because the raise absorbs the increase. Most 401(k) plans allow you to set this up as an automatic annual escalation.
Your own contributions are always 100% yours immediately. Employer matching contributions may be subject to a vesting schedule. Cliff vesting gives you 0% until a specified date (usually 3 years), then 100%. Graded vesting increases your ownership gradually (e.g., 20% per year over 5 years). Check your plan details before assuming you own your full match.
The standard planning answer uses the 4% rule: withdraw 4% of the balance in your first year of retirement, then adjust for inflation. Divide by twelve for the monthly figure. What common balances support:
| 401(k) balance | Annual at 4% | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $10,000 | $833 |
| $400,000 | $16,000 | $1,333 |
| $500,000 | $20,000 | $1,667 |
| $750,000 | $30,000 | $2,500 |
| $1,000,000 | $40,000 | $3,333 |
| $1,500,000 | $60,000 | $5,000 |
| $2,000,000 | $80,000 | $6,667 |
So can you retire at 62 with $400,000 in your 401(k)? At the 4% rule that's about $1,333/month before tax — on its own, tight for most households. It becomes workable when Social Security is added: you can claim as early as 62 at a permanently reduced benefit, or bridge from the 401(k) until your full retirement age for a larger check. Withdrawals themselves are penalty-free from 59½ (or 55 if you left that employer at 55+), so at 62 the constraint is the size of the balance, not access to it. An annuity is the other route — it typically pays more per month than 4% but gives up the balance itself.
Compound growth on a lump sum already in the account, with no further contributions. At 7% a year, money roughly doubles every decade:
| Starting amount | Return | 10 years | 20 years | 30 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | 5% | $16,289 | $26,533 | $43,219 |
| 7% | $19,672 | $38,697 | $76,123 | |
| 9% | $23,674 | $56,044 | $132,677 | |
| $100,000 | 5% | $162,889 | $265,330 | $432,194 |
| 7% | $196,715 | $386,968 | $761,226 | |
| 9% | $236,736 | $560,441 | $1,326,768 |
So $10,000 left in a 401(k) for 20 years at 7% becomes about $38,700, and $100,000 over 10 years becomes about $196,700 — before any new contributions or employer match, which is what the calculator above adds on top.
Over the long run the S&P 500 has returned roughly 10% a year before inflation — about 7% in real (inflation-adjusted) terms, which is why 7% is the standard modelling default and this calculator's starting assumption. Use a lower figure if your 401(k) holds a meaningful bond allocation (a 60/40 portfolio has historically returned less than all-stock), if you're within about ten years of retirement (a bad early sequence of returns matters more than the average), or if you simply want a conservative plan. The honest answer is a range: model 5%, 7% and 9% with the slider above and plan around the low end.
Richify AI coordinates your 401(k), IRA, HSA, and taxable accounts into one unified retirement plan. Free download.
Download Richify — FreeThe IRS 401(k) employee contribution limit is $24,500 for 2026. Workers aged 50 and over can make an additional catch-up contribution of $8,000, for a total of $32,500.
The total combined limit including employer contributions is $72,000 for 2026. Always contribute at least enough to capture your full employer match before contributing to an IRA — the employer match is the highest guaranteed return available in personal finance.
Many employers match your 401(k) contributions up to a percentage of your salary — commonly 3-6%. For example, a 100% match up to 4% means if you contribute 4% of your $100,000 salary ($4,000), your employer adds another $4,000.
That's a 100% instant return. Not taking the full match is the single most expensive financial mistake most Americans make.
Three different limits apply depending on your age at the end of 2026. Under 50: $24,500 of your own salary deferrals.
Age 50-59, and 64 or older: $24,500 plus the standard $8,000 catch-up, so $32,500. Age 60-63: a larger 'super catch-up' of $11,250 replaces the $8,000, taking the total to $35,750 — the one most people miss, and a narrow four-year window that closes again at 64 when you revert to the standard catch-up.
All of these are your own deferrals only; employer matching sits on top against a separate, much higher combined limit. If you turn 60 during 2026 you qualify for the super catch-up for the whole year, because the test is your age on 31 December.
A useful reality check, and a more honest one than most people expect: average balances are pulled up sharply by a small number of very large accounts, so the average for any age band sits well above what a typical saver holds — the median is the number to compare yourself against. Balances also compound rather than accumulate evenly, so the gap between age bands widens dramatically in the last fifteen years before retirement even when contributions stay flat.
See our breakdown of average and median 401(k) balance by age for the figures, and treat them as a check on whether your contribution rate needs adjusting rather than as a target.
Withdrawals before age 59.5 are normally taxed as ordinary income AND hit with a 10% early-withdrawal penalty on top, so a $20,000 withdrawal by someone in the 22% bracket can net barely $13,000 once federal tax, the penalty and state tax come out. Your plan typically withholds 20% up front, which is a deposit against the bill rather than the final figure.
Exceptions waive the penalty but not the income tax — separation from service at 55 or later, qualifying medical expenses, disability, and a limited penalty-free amount for birth or adoption. A 401(k) loan is a different mechanism and triggers neither tax nor penalty while repaid on schedule, though it becomes a deemed distribution if you default.
The larger cost is invisible: money withdrawn at 40 loses roughly three decades of compounding, usually worth far more than the immediate tax hit.
A Roth 401(k) allows after-tax contributions with tax-free withdrawals in retirement — combining Roth tax treatment with the higher 401(k) contribution limit ($24,500 vs Roth IRA's $7,500). The same contribution limit applies whether you choose Traditional or Roth 401(k), and you can split between both.
Most employers now offer this option.
Your own 401(k) contributions are always 100% yours. However, employer matching contributions may be subject to a vesting schedule — cliff vesting (0% until a date, then 100%) or graded vesting (e.g., 20% per year over 5 years).
If you leave before fully vested, you forfeit the unvested employer portion. Check your plan documents.
Using the 4% rule — withdraw 4% of the balance in year one, then adjust for inflation — divide your balance by 300 for the monthly figure. A $500,000 401(k) supports about $1,667/month; $1,000,000 about $3,333/month; $2,000,000 about $6,667/month, all before tax.
Social Security sits on top of that. An annuity typically pays more per month than the 4% rule but surrenders the balance itself.
Withdrawals are penalty-free from age 59½, or 55 if you leave that employer in or after the year you turn 55.
At a 7% average annual return, $10,000 grows to about $38,700 in 20 years with no further contributions — and about $76,100 in 30 years, since money at 7% roughly doubles every decade. At a more conservative 5% it reaches about $26,500 in 20 years; at 9% about $56,000.
The same multiples apply to any starting amount: $100,000 becomes roughly $196,700 in 10 years and $387,000 in 20 years at 7%.
