Skip to content

Points Frog guide

Am I getting my full 401(k) match?

Enter your salary, what you contribute and your employer's formula, even a tiered one. See the match you get, what you're leaving on the table, the contribution that gets all of it and what the match grows to by retirement, within the $24,500 IRS limit for 2026.

Post on X

401(k) match calculator

A year, before taxes.

Of each paycheck, pre-tax and Roth together.

Optional.

Until you stop working.

A year, after inflation. 4% is a steady stock and bond mix.

Sets your IRS limit: $24,500 in 2026, with any catch-up.

Your employer's match formula

Pick a common formula, or type your plan's steps below. Your benefits guide or plan summary has it.

  1. Step 1: $1.00 for each dollar you put in, on 3% of pay.

  2. Step 2: 50¢ for each dollar you put in, on 2% of pay.

Optional. Some plans stop at, say, $2,000.

You're leaving $750 a year on the table

Your employer matches 100% of the first 3% of pay, plus 50% of the next 2%. At 3% you get $2,250 of the $3,000 it would add, and each extra dollar you put in brings 50¢ more. Contribute 5% to get all of it: $1,500 more a year from your pay (about $125 a month, before taxes) brings $750 more from your employer. Over 30 years at 4%, the match you're missing would grow to $42,829.

  • You can put in up to $24,500 in 2026. From the year you turn 50 you can add $8,000 of catch-up, or $11,250 in the years you turn 60 to 63.
Employer match a year
$2,250
3% of your pay
Left on the table
$750
A year · contribute 5% to get it all
Going in a year
$4,500
You $2,250 + employer $2,250 · 6% of pay
Your 401(k) in 30 years
$338,061
$128,488 of it from the match, at 4% a year
What the match grows to · years from now, today's dollarsMatch you getFull match
Year-by-year table
YearMatch you getFull matchMissedYour 401(k)
Now$0$0$0$25,000
1$2,291$3,055$764$30,582
2$4,674$6,231$1,558$36,387
3$7,151$9,535$2,384$42,425
4$9,728$12,971$3,243$48,703
5$12,409$16,545$4,136$55,233
6$15,196$20,261$5,065$62,025
7$18,095$24,126$6,032$69,088
8$21,109$28,146$7,036$76,433
9$24,245$32,326$8,082$84,072
10$27,505$36,674$9,168$92,017
11$30,897$41,196$10,299$100,280
12$34,423$45,898$11,474$108,873
13$38,091$50,789$12,697$117,810
14$41,906$55,875$13,969$127,104
15$45,873$61,164$15,291$136,770
16$49,999$66,665$16,666$146,823
17$54,290$72,387$18,097$157,278
18$58,753$78,337$19,584$168,151
19$63,394$84,525$21,131$179,458
20$68,220$90,960$22,740$191,219
21$73,240$97,653$24,413$203,449
22$78,461$104,614$26,154$216,169
23$83,890$111,853$27,963$229,398
24$89,537$119,382$29,846$243,156
25$95,409$127,212$31,803$257,464
26$101,516$135,355$33,839$272,344
27$107,868$143,824$35,956$287,820
28$114,474$152,632$38,158$303,915
29$121,344$161,791$40,448$320,653
30$128,488$171,318$42,829$338,061

Projections are in today's dollars and assume your pay and the IRS limits rise with inflation. Each month is one paycheck. Taxes, fees and vesting are not included. An educational estimate, not financial advice.

Embed this calculator on your site · free

Paste this into your page's HTML. The calculator sizes itself to fit. For a dark site, add ?theme=dark to the frame address.

<iframe src="https://www.pointsfrog.com/embed/401k-match-calculator" title="401(k) match calculator by Points Frog" width="100%" height="1700" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:14px"><a href="https://www.pointsfrog.com/401k-match-calculator">401(k) match calculator</a> by Points Frog</p>
<script async src="https://www.pointsfrog.com/embed.js"></script>
Preview the embed ↗How to add it to WordPress, Squarespace and more

401(k) matches in four numbers

Average promised match
4.7% of pay
Median contribution for the full match
6%
Most common formula
50% of the first 6%
Contribution limit, 2026
$24,500

Vanguard plans in 2025, from How America Saves 2026; the limit is the IRS's.

How does a 401(k) match work?

Your employer adds money to your 401(k) when you contribute, by a formula tied to your pay. With the most common formula, 50% of the first 6% of pay, putting in 6% of a $60,000 salary ($3,600) brings $1,800 from your employer, another 3% of pay. Put in 4% and the match is $1,200; anything above 6% isn't matched.

Tiered formulas match each slice of your pay at its own rate. The basic safe harbor match in the tax regulations, 100% of the first 3% of pay, plus 50% of the next 2%, adds $1,800 when you put in 3% of $60,000. Put in 5% ($3,000) and it adds $1,800 on the first 3% plus $600 on the next 2%, $2,400 in all: a match worth 4% of pay for contributing 5%.

Employer match a year on a $60,000 salary, by what you contribute
You contribute50% of the first 6%100% of the first 3%, plus 50% of the next 2%100% of the first 6%
1% ($600)$300$600$600
2% ($1,200)$600$1,200$1,200
3% ($1,800)$900$1,800$1,800
4% ($2,400)$1,200$2,100$2,400
5% ($3,000)$1,500$2,400$3,000
6% ($3,600)$1,800$2,400$3,600
8% ($4,800)$1,800$2,400$3,600

The point where a column stops growing is where your employer stops adding: contributing less than that leaves match on the table. Many plans match each paycheck rather than the year, which is why the calculator works paycheck by paycheck.

What is a typical 401(k) match?

The average employer match promised 4.7% of pay in 2025 and the median 4%, in Vanguard's How America Saves 2026. Getting all of it meant contributing 6.4% of pay on average, 6% at the median. The single most common formula was 50% of the first 6% of pay, used by 12% of plans with a match.

The five match formulas Vanguard plans used most in 2025
FormulaPlansMatch worthContribute at leastOn $60,000
50% of the first 6% of pay12%3% of pay6%$1,800
100% of the first 3% of pay, plus 50% of the next 2%9%4% of pay5%$2,400
100% of the first 6% of pay9%6% of pay6%$3,600
100% of the first 5% of pay7%5% of pay5%$3,000
100% of the first 4% of pay7%4% of pay4%$2,400

Those five cover fewer than half of plans: Vanguard ran more than 100 distinct match formulas. 69% of plans with a match used a single rate, like 50% of the first 6%; 25% used tiers, like 100% of the first 3% plus 50% of the next 2%; and 5% capped the match in dollars, at $2,000 a year for example. Most promised a match worth from 3% to just under 7% of pay. Vanguard participants put in 7.6% of pay on average, 12.1% with employer money, per How America Saves 2026.

What is the 401(k) contribution limit for 2026?

You can put in up to $24,500 of your pay in 2026, up from $23,500 in 2025. From the year you turn 50 you can add $8,000 in catch-up contributions, $32,500 in all, or $11,250 instead in the years you turn 60 to 63, $35,750 in all. Your employer's match doesn't count toward those limits; it counts toward the $72,000 you and your employer can add together.

401(k) limits, from IRS Notice 2025-67
Limit20262025
What you can contribute from pay$24,500$23,500
Catch-up from age 50$8,000$7,500
Catch-up at ages 60 to 63, instead$11,250$11,250
You and your employer together$72,000$70,000
Pay a plan can count for the match$360,000$350,000

Two more rules matter for higher earners. If you earned more than $150,000 in Social Security (FICA) wages from your employer in 2025, any catch-up contributions you make in 2026 must go in as Roth, after tax. And a plan can only count the first $360,000 of your pay, so on a bigger salary the match is figured on $360,000. The figures come from IRS Notice 2025-67 and the IRS's announcement of November 13, 2025.

Reaching the limit early can cost match. Put 10% of a $300,000 salary into a plan that matches 100% of the first 6%, and you hit $24,500 with your October paycheck. A plan that matches each paycheck stops there, at $15,000 instead of $18,000. Some plans true up after the year ends and pay the rest; if yours doesn't, 8.1% of each paycheck spreads the limit over all twelve months.

How does 401(k) vesting work?

Your own contributions are always 100% yours, but your employer's match can vest over time: at most a 3-year cliff, where you own none of it until 3 years of service and all of it after, or a 6-year graded schedule that gives you 20% after 2 years and 20% more each year to 100% at 6. Safe harbor matches are yours as soon as they're paid in, except in automatic-enrollment (QACA) plans, which can take up to 2 years.

Share of the match you own, under the slowest schedules the IRS allows
Years of service3-year cliff6-year graded
10%0%
20%20%
3100%40%
4100%60%
5100%80%
6100%100%

Plans can vest faster, and many do: nearly half of Vanguard plans vested the match immediately in 2025, while 22% used a 5- or 6-year graded schedule. Leave before you're vested and you forfeit the unvested part. You become fully vested at the plan's normal retirement age or if the plan ends. The schedules are in the IRS's guide to vesting for matching contributions.

What does missing the match cost by retirement?

Missing $1,000 of match a year adds up to about $57,100 over 30 years at a steady 4% return after inflation, and about $93,900 if returns match the S&P 500's 6.8% average after inflation since 1957. That's in today's dollars, and none of it would have come from your pay.

What a match you miss each year grows to, in today's dollars
Missed a year10 years at 4%20 years at 4%30 years at 4%30 years at 6.8%
$500$6,100$15,200$28,600$47,000
$1,000$12,200$30,300$57,100$93,900
$1,500$18,300$45,500$85,700$140,900
$2,500$30,600$75,800$142,800$234,800

The 6.8% column uses the S&P 500's average return with dividends reinvested since 1957, after inflation, from Robert Shiller's data; the 4% column is a steadier mix of stocks and bonds. Both are the retirement calculator's scenarios.

How the calculator works

  • A year is twelve monthly paychecks. Each puts your contribution rate of that month's pay into the plan until you reach the IRS limit for your age.
  • Your employer matches each paycheck by its formula, counting pay up to $360,000 a year, then stops at any yearly dollar cap and at the $72,000 limit on you and your employer together.
  • The contribution needed is the lowest, in steps of 0.1% of pay, that gets the most match a year of paychecks can earn. When a year-end true-up would pay more, the calculator says so.
  • The match and your 401(k) grow monthly at your expected return after inflation, with the year's contributions going in a twelfth at a time. Pay and the IRS limits are assumed to rise with prices, so every figure is in today's dollars.

401(k) match questions

What does "50% up to 6%" mean?

Your employer adds 50 cents for each dollar you contribute, on contributions up to 6% of your pay. It's the same formula as "50% of the first 6%": contributing 6% gets the whole match, 3% of pay, or $1,800 a year on $60,000. A tiered formula such as 100% of the first 3% plus 50% of the next 2% matches each slice of pay at its own rate.

Is a 401(k) match free money?

In effect, yes. A 50% match is an instant 50% return on the dollars it covers, before any investment growth, and a 100% match doubles them. The catches are vesting, which can take back unvested match if you leave early, and that the money is for retirement: taking it out before 59½ usually means income tax plus a 10% additional tax unless an exception applies.

Does the employer match count toward my 401(k) limit?

No. The $24,500 limit for 2026 covers only what you put in from your pay, pre-tax and Roth together. The match counts toward a separate $72,000 limit on everything you and your employer add in a year, not counting catch-up contributions.

Do Roth 401(k) contributions get matched?

Usually, the same as pre-tax ones: Roth 401(k) contributions are elective deferrals, which is what a match is figured on. The match itself goes in pre-tax unless your plan lets you take it as Roth, which the SECURE 2.0 Act allowed from December 29, 2022. You then owe income tax on it for the year it's added, and only match you're fully vested in can be Roth.

What happens if I max out my 401(k) early in the year?

Your contributions stop when you reach the limit, and in a plan that matches each paycheck, the match stops too. Putting 10% of a $300,000 salary into a plan matching 100% of the first 6% reaches $24,500 with the October paycheck, so the match comes to $15,000 instead of $18,000. Plans with a year-end true-up make up the difference; otherwise 8.1% of each paycheck spreads the limit across the year.

Should I contribute more than the match?

The match stops where the formula ends, so contributions above it get no employer money, though they still grow tax-advantaged. Vanguard participants put in 7.6% of pay on average in 2025, or 12.1% counting employer money. How much more to save depends on your goals; the retirement calculator shows whether you're on track.

Is this 401(k) match calculator financial advice?

No. It's an educational estimate. It leaves out taxes, fees, raises, vesting, waiting periods before the match starts, profit-sharing contributions and other plan rules, and markets can return less than you expect. Check your plan's summary plan description for its exact formula, and for a plan built around your situation, talk with a fee-only fiduciary financial planner.

Sources

Figures checked October 2026.