401(k) Contribution Limit Calculator
Estimate your remaining 401(k) contribution room, per-paycheck max-out target, employer match capture, and total plan-space buffer for 2025 or 2026.
Last updated: 2026-03-26
401(k) contribution limit calculator
Enter your values
Estimate how much 401(k) room you have left for the year and the per-paycheck contribution needed to reach the limit.
Remaining Employee Headroom
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Enter your contribution year, age band, and savings progress to estimate remaining 401(k) room and employer match capture.
Calculation History(0)
Example calculations
Tap an example to prefill the calculator with sample values.
Midyear max-out plan
Age 45 with 12 paychecks left
Useful when you want to see how aggressively you need to defer for the rest of the year without losing the employer match.
Result: This scenario shows the remaining employee limit and the per-paycheck contribution needed to finish the year at the IRS cap.
Age-61 catch-up sprint
SECURE 2.0 higher catch-up band
People in the age-60-to-63 band often need a fast midyear check because their catch-up room is materially larger than the general age-50 catch-up.
Result: The higher catch-up limit meaningfully raises the remaining room, but the employer match may still plateau well before the employee limit.
How the 401(k) limit estimate works
The calculator looks up the IRS elective deferral limit for 2025 or 2026, adds any catch-up amount that applies to your age band, and then caps that employee limit at the compensation you entered.
It then spreads the remaining room across the pay periods left in the year, estimates the employer match from the match rate and salary cap you entered, and compares the combined total with the broader annual additions limit for the plan year.
401(k) contribution FAQs
Use these answers to interpret headroom, catch-up eligibility, and the broader plan limit carefully.
Why can the effective employee limit be lower than the IRS limit?
Because elective deferrals still cannot exceed your compensation for the year. The calculator caps the employee limit at the compensation value you entered.
Does the employer match count against the employee deferral limit?
No. Employer contributions do not reduce the employee elective deferral limit, but they do count toward the broader annual additions limit that applies to the whole plan.
How does the age-60-to-63 catch-up work here?
For 2025 and 2026, employees in that age band can use the higher SECURE 2.0 catch-up amount instead of the standard age-50 catch-up. The calculator models that larger limit directly.
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</script> Related tools
Use nearby retirement and paycheck tools to see both the cash-flow effect and the longer-term balance impact.
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Project what the extra deferrals could become inside a longer-term retirement plan.
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Pressure-test how a higher per-paycheck deferral changes your take-home pay.
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