Retirement / THE DECISION DESK
Retirement Savings Calculator
Project a retirement balance from contributions, a capped employer match, and compound growth — and see the income it actually supports.
Reviewed Calculation inputs stay in your browser
Compare up to three snapshots of inputs and headline results. Snapshots clear when you leave this page.
$1,664,238
Over 30 years, supporting about $66,570 a year at a 4% withdrawal rate.
Where the balance comes from
In retirement
The employer match, compounded
The gap between the lines is $354,271 by 65 — and only $121,317 of that was actually contributed by your employer. The rest is growth on money that was never yours to begin with.
View as table
| Your age | With employer match | Your contributions alone |
|---|---|---|
| age 35 | $45,000 | $45,000 |
| age 36 | $57,909 | $55,276 |
| age 37 | $72,041 | $66,505 |
| age 38 | $87,493 | $78,762 |
| age 39 | $104,369 | $92,130 |
| age 40 | $122,781 | $106,694 |
| age 41 | $142,851 | $122,547 |
| age 42 | $164,707 | $139,792 |
| age 43 | $188,489 | $158,534 |
| age 44 | $214,347 | $178,890 |
| age 45 | $242,441 | $200,985 |
| age 46 | $272,944 | $224,952 |
| age 47 | $306,041 | $250,934 |
| age 48 | $341,932 | $279,087 |
| age 49 | $380,830 | $309,574 |
| age 50 | $422,966 | $342,576 |
| age 51 | $468,585 | $378,281 |
| age 52 | $517,954 | $416,896 |
| age 53 | $571,357 | $458,641 |
| age 54 | $629,099 | $503,751 |
| age 55 | $691,508 | $552,481 |
| age 56 | $758,937 | $605,104 |
| age 57 | $831,764 | $661,911 |
| age 58 | $910,393 | $723,216 |
| age 59 | $995,263 | $789,357 |
| age 60 | $1,086,839 | $860,695 |
| age 61 | $1,185,624 | $937,618 |
| age 62 | $1,292,156 | $1,020,543 |
| age 63 | $1,407,015 | $1,109,917 |
| age 64 | $1,530,820 | $1,206,220 |
| age 65 | $1,664,238 | $1,309,966 |
How this is calculated
The balance is compounded monthly and contributions are added monthly, which is how payroll deferrals actually arrive. Each month:
balance = balance × (1 + return/12)
+ (employee + employer) / 12
The employer match is capped, and getting this right is the main reason to trust this projection over a simpler one. The employer adds match rate × the salary share you contribute, but only up to match cap. Contributing past the cap adds your money and no more of theirs:
matched share = min(contribution rate, match cap)
employer = salary × matched share × match rate
Salary grows annually, so contributions rise with it. The second chart line reruns the identical projection with the employer contribution removed, which isolates what the match is worth once compounding has acted on it — usually several times the sum actually contributed.
Not modelled: contribution limits set by the IRS, catch-up contributions after 50, vesting schedules on employer money, fund fees, taxes on withdrawal, or Social Security. Fees in particular compound against you exactly as returns compound for you, and a 1% expense ratio over thirty years is not a small effect.
Common questions
›How does an employer match actually work?
Your employer contributes a share of what you contribute, but only on salary up to a cap. A common arrangement is 50% up to 6% of salary: contribute 6% and they add 3%, contribute 10% and they still add only 3%, because the match stopped at the 6% cap. This distinction matters enormously and is the single most common modelling error in retirement calculators, which is why the cap is a separate input here rather than being folded into the match rate.
›Is 7% a reasonable return to assume?
It is roughly the long-run average for US equities after inflation, and around 10% before it. But an average is not a promise: real sequences include decades that badly underperform and the order of returns matters enormously if you are drawing down. Run the projection at 5% as well as 7% — if the plan only works at the optimistic figure, it is not really a plan. Note also that this tool compounds a single fixed rate, which is smoother than any real market.
›What is the 4% withdrawal rate?
A widely cited rule of thumb suggesting you can withdraw 4% of your balance in the first year of retirement, adjusting for inflation thereafter, with a low chance of running out over thirty years. It came from historical US market data and is contested — some analysts argue for closer to 3% given current valuations and longer lifespans, others that it is too conservative because it ignores flexibility in spending. Treat it as a rough scaling factor between a balance and an income, not a guarantee.
›Why is the projected balance in future dollars?
Because it compounds nominal contributions at a nominal return. A million dollars in thirty years does not buy what a million buys today — at 3% inflation it is closer to $412,000 in today's terms. The figure is not wrong, but it feels larger than it is, so the tool states the inflation-adjusted equivalent alongside it. If you would rather work entirely in today's dollars, enter a real return (nominal minus inflation, so roughly 4% instead of 7%) and read the result as present-day purchasing power.
›Should I contribute more than the match?
Capturing the full match first is close to unambiguous — it is an immediate 50% or 100% return that no investment reliably matches. Beyond that it becomes a genuine tradeoff against high-interest debt, an emergency fund, and near-term goals. A reasonable ordering for most people is: enough to capture the full match, then a starter emergency fund, then high-rate debt, then back to retirement.