401k Match
Calculate the free money from an employer's 401k match.
About 401k Match
A matching contribution adds employer money up to a cap, often fifty percent of the first six percent you contribute. Investing at least up to the match cap captures this effectively free return. An employer match is an immediate guaranteed return on contributions, usually the best first step in any savings plan.
Formula
401k Match
Employer match = salary x min(you, cap) x match%
- match cap
- share of salary the employer matches
Worked example
With the default values below, 401k Match returns Your Contribution of $3,600.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Salary
- 60,000
- Your contributionaccepts 0–100 %
- 6 %
- Employer match percentaccepts 0–100 %
- 50 %
- Match cap percentaccepts 0–100 %
- 6 %
Results
- Your Contribution
- $3,600.00
- Employer Match
- $1,800.00
- Total Annual
- $5,400.00
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2401k Match
- 3Your Contribution= 3,600.00
- 4Employer Match= 1,800.00
- 5Total Annual= 5,400.00
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
- This is an estimate for general information and not professional financial, tax or legal advice. See the full disclaimer for the limits that apply to this kind of calculator.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is 401k Match calculated?
Employer match = salary x min(you, cap) x match% A matching contribution adds employer money up to a cap, often fifty percent of the first six percent you contribute. Investing at least up to the match cap captures this effectively free return.
Why does 401k Match matter?
An employer match is an immediate guaranteed return on contributions, usually the best first step in any savings plan.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 4 inputs: Salary, Your contribution, Employer match percent, Match cap percent. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.