Personal financeHow this is calculated Common questions
Retirement savings projector
Project your retirement balance from your current savings, monthly contributions and employer match — in future dollars and in today's money — plus the income it could support.
Tool
Retirement savings projector
What today's contributions turn into by the year you stop working.
Annual return
Balance at 65
$1,540,228
$716,383 in today's money
Total contributed$364,200
Investment growth$1,176,028
Income at 4% a year$5,134/mo
The balance compounds monthly at the annual return divided by twelve, with your contribution and employer match added each month. Today's-money figures discount the result at 2.5% inflation a year, and the income line applies the 4% annual withdrawal guideline.
- The return is steady every year; real markets are not.
- Contributions stay flat in nominal terms — no raises or step-ups.
- Taxes, fees and Social Security are excluded.
- How much will my 401(k) be worth at retirement?
- A $48,000 balance with $850 a month going in (yours plus the match) at a 7% return grows to roughly $1.1 million over 31 years — around $520,000 in today's money.
- How much income does a retirement balance produce?
- The common guideline is 4% a year, so a $1 million balance supports roughly $3,300 a month before tax.