Worksheet

401(k) match calculator

Employer matching formulas differ from plan to plan, so this tool does not supply one. You type your pay, how much you contribute, and the two numbers that describe your plan's match. It then shows how much employer money you capture in a year and how much you leave behind. Results are hypothetical and rest only on what you type.

Type your numbers above and the result appears here. Nothing is pre-filled and nothing leaves your device.

Worked example (example numbers chosen only to show the arithmetic): pay of $60,000, a 3 percent contribution, and a match of 50 cents per dollar on contributions up to 6 percent of pay. Your 3 percent is $1,800, half of that is $900 captured, the most the typed formula could give is $1,800, so $900 is left on the table.

Before you decide

Whether to raise your contribution depends on your whole budget, your debts and your other goals, which this tool does not see. The answer on the screen is arithmetic on typed numbers, not advice. A plan administrator can confirm your plan's real rules, and a licensed adviser can help with your own situation.

The formula in words

Your plan's match is described by two numbers. The first is the match rate: how many cents the employer adds for each dollar you contribute (50 means 50 cents, 100 means a dollar for dollar match). The second is the cap: the share of your pay up to which the employer will match.

Matched share of pay: the smaller of your contribution percent and the cap.
Employer dollars captured: yearly pay times the matched share, times the match rate.
Most the formula could give: yearly pay times the cap, times the match rate.
Left on the table: the most it could give minus the amount you captured.

If you contribute at least as much as the cap, nothing is left on the table under the typed formula, and contributing more than the cap earns no additional match. If you contribute less, the tool also shows how much more you would add, as a percent of pay and as dollars per year, to reach the cap.

Finding your plan's two numbers

Your summary plan description, your benefits portal or your plan administrator will state the match. Some plans match in tiers, for example one rate on the first slice of pay and a different rate on the next slice. This tool handles one rate and one cap. For a tiered match, run it once per tier using only the pay slice for that tier, or calculate by hand from the plan documents.

Details this tool does not model

Vesting. Many plans require a period of service before employer money is fully yours. The result assumes the money is yours.
Annual limits. The IRS sets limits on employee contributions and on pay that can be counted for a plan, and they change. Check the current figures with the IRS or your plan before typing a percent that would exceed them.
Timing. Some plans match each paycheck, others true up at year end. If you front-load contributions and then stop, a per-paycheck plan might match less than a year-end calculation suggests.
Definition of pay. Plans may count bonuses, overtime or other pay differently from the pay you typed.
Other kinds of employer contributions. Profit sharing and automatic contributions that do not depend on your own deferral are outside this tool.

Why the match is often discussed first

An employer match is part of your pay package that is only paid if you contribute, so many guides treat capturing it as an early step. Whether it is the right first step for you depends on your cash flow and other obligations. Our article on contributing enough to get the full match covers that decision, and the one on raising your 401(k) versus funding a Roth IRA covers what comes after.

Where this comes from

The match arithmetic is simple percentage math applied to the two numbers a plan states. The description of how a match works and the point about vesting come from the IRS 401(k) plan overview, which describes employer matching contributions, such as an employer adding 50 cents for each dollar an employee defers, and says a plan may require years of service before matching money vests. We did not use any specific plan or employer as a model. This is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice.