Add your pay and workplace match. See what your job adds and whether any money is being left behind.
Your job adds
$0Each year
Full match
You get every dollar.
Together by age 65
$1,527,209
Your contributions and your job's match, growing together.
Assumes the same contributions and match are invested each year and earn 7% annually. Your plan rules, vesting schedule, fees, and returns may differ. Educational estimate, not financial advice.
Plain English
A 401(k) match is money your employer contributes when you put part of your paycheck into your workplace retirement account. Your benefits may describe this as “50% up to 6%.” That means they add 50 cents for every dollar you put in, until you put in 6% of your pay.
For example, “50% up to 6%” means your employer adds 50 cents for every dollar you contribute, until your contribution reaches 6% of salary. On an $85,000 salary, contributing 6% adds $5,100 from you and $2,550 from your employer each year.
Your own contributions are always yours. Employer money may follow a vesting schedule, meaning you earn ownership of it after working there for a set amount of time.
Read the beginner’s guide to 401(k)s →Your employer applies its match rate to the amount you contribute, up to a percentage of your salary. A 50% match up to 6% means the company adds 50 cents for each dollar you contribute until your contribution reaches 6% of pay.
If you contribute 6% of your salary, your employer contributes another 3% of salary. Contributing less than 6% usually means receiving less than the full available match.
Employer contributions do not count toward the employee contribution limit. They do count toward the higher combined employee-and-employer limit.
