401(k) Employer Match Calculator

For every dollar you put in, up to 3% of your salary, your employer adds a full dollar. Many plans add a second tier - commonly 50 cents per dollar on the next 2% - which is the "100% of 3% + 50% of 2%" formula this calculator defaults to. On a $95,000 salary that two-tier formula is worth $3,800 a year of employer money.

Add the two tier thresholds: on the default formula, 3% + 2% = 5% of pay. Contribute even one percent less and you permanently forfeit that year’s matching dollars on the gap - there is no retroactive catch-up next year. This calculator’s banner shows your plan’s exact threshold and what missing it costs.

A true-up is a year-end correction deposit: the employer recalculates your match on your full-year contributions and pays back anything you lost to per-paycheck matching quirks. It matters enormously if you front-load. Check your Summary Plan Description for the term "true-up," or ask HR the one-line question: "If I max out early, do I still get the full match?"

Yes - this is the trap most calculators ignore. Most plans match per paycheck, so once you hit the IRS annual limit your contributions stop, and paychecks with zero contribution earn zero match. A high earner front-loading at 50% can forfeit thousands. If your plan has no true-up, spread contributions so you reach the limit in the final paycheck of the year.

Better than most. Surveys of large plans put the typical maximum employer contribution around 4-5% of pay, with dollar-for-dollar on 3-4% or fifty-cents-on-the-dollar up to 6% as the most common designs. Anything at 6%+ dollar-for-dollar is genuinely generous - and all of it is a 50-100% instant return you cannot get anywhere else.

No. The elective-deferral limit applies only to YOUR contributions. Employer match sits under a separate, much higher combined limit, so a full match never blocks you from maxing your own deferrals. That separation is exactly why the match is free money - it expands the total flowing into the account.

For 2026: $24,500 in elective deferrals under age 50; $32,500 with the age-50+ catch-up; and $35,750 for ages 60-63 under the SECURE 2.0 "super catch-up." This calculator applies the right limit from your age bracket automatically and flags the paycheck where you would hit it.

The match threshold is the floor, not the ceiling - below it you are declining free money; above it the account is still one of the best tax shelters available. A common ordering: capture the full match, then max an HSA or Roth IRA if eligible, then return to the 401(k) toward the annual limit. Where you land depends on fees and fund quality in your plan.

Your own contributions are always 100% yours. Employer match may vest over time - immediately in the best plans, or on a schedule up to 3-year cliff or 6-year graded under federal limits. If you are considering a job change, the unvested match balance is real money on the table; sometimes waiting two months changes the math.

The match formula is identical either way, but the match dollars themselves land pre-tax (traditional) in most plans, even when your contributions are Roth - SECURE 2.0 lets employers offer Roth match, though adoption is still spotty. So a Roth contributor typically ends up with two buckets: Roth (yours) and pre-tax (the match).