Retirement
IRA, 401(k) & SEP-IRA Growth
Project what a specific retirement account could grow to, with this year's contribution limit for your age applied and a clear note when you're over it.
Limits use 2026 figures and are held there for every future year. The IRS usually raises them, so later years could allow more than this shows.
Heads up: the 2026 contribution limits in this tool are still waiting on our check against the IRS’s published table. Read the caps as approximate until this note is gone.
What this means
At 7% a year, your 401(k) could grow to about $1,077,308 by 65. $290,000 of that is money put in; the other $787,308 is growth. That's an estimate on the return you chose, not a promise.
You're under the limit every year of this projection. At 50 the law lets you put in more (catch-up contributions), and from 60 through 63 a 401(k) allows a larger catch-up still. Room you don't use in a year doesn't carry over.
These are estimates to help you think, not personalized legal, tax, or investment advice, and not a promise of any result.
This calculator projects one retirement account: a traditional or Roth IRA, a 401(k), or a SEP-IRA. Enter your age, your balance, what you put in each year, any employer contribution, and an assumed return, and it shows what the account could hold when you retire, how much of that you put in, and how much is growth.
Why it matters: each of these accounts has a yearly ceiling set by law, and the ceiling depends on the account and your age. A plan that assumes you can put in more than the law allows is a plan that won't happen. This applies this year's limit to every year of the projection and tells you when your amount runs into it.
How to use it
Pick the account
IRAs are accounts you open yourself. A 401(k) comes through work and can include an employer contribution. A SEP-IRA is for self-employed people and small businesses, and its limit is a share of pay rather than a flat amount.
Enter what goes in each year
Your own yearly contribution, and for a 401(k), what your employer adds in dollars. If you enter more than the law allows for your age, the calculator counts only the allowed amount and says so.
Set a return and read the split
Choose an assumed yearly return, cautious and hopeful, and compare. Look at how much of the final balance is growth rather than money you put in. That share grows the longer the money has to work.
Behind the numbers
Limits are yearly and they don't carry over
The IRS sets each account's contribution limit and adjusts it most years. Room you don't use in a year is gone, which is why steady contributions beat trying to catch up in a lump later.
Catch-up contributions start at 50
From the year you turn 50, IRAs and 401(k)s let you put in an extra amount on top of the regular limit. A 401(k) also allows a larger catch-up from 60 through 63, in place of the one that starts at 50. SEP-IRAs have no catch-up.
A SEP-IRA limit is a share of pay
An employer can put up to 25% of an employee's pay into a SEP-IRA, up to a yearly dollar ceiling. If you're self-employed and contributing for yourself, the math runs on your net self-employment earnings and works out lower, so treat the calculator's figure as a ceiling and confirm yours.
The math behind it
Each year, the calculator takes your contribution, cuts it to the limit for your age and account if needed, adds any employer money, and grows the balance one year at your assumed return with contributions spread across the months. It repeats that every year until you retire.
Worked example
$6,000 a year into a Roth IRA for 30 years at an assumed 7% grows to about $610,000. You put in $180,000; the other roughly $430,000 is growth, and in a Roth it comes out tax-free if you follow the rules.
The Rule of 72
Divide 72 by your assumed return to see roughly how many years it takes money to double. At 7%, about 10 years. A dollar put in at 35 has about three doublings before 65; a dollar put in at 55 has one.
Common questions
Which account should I use first?
A common order: contribute to your 401(k) up to the full employer match, then an IRA (Roth or traditional), then back to the 401(k). The match comes first because it's money your employer adds only if you contribute. Your situation may differ, so treat this as a starting point.
Can I have an IRA and a 401(k) at the same time?
Yes. They have separate limits. Your income and whether you're covered by a workplace plan can affect whether a traditional IRA contribution is deductible, and Roth IRA contributions phase out at higher incomes. Check the current year's rules on irs.gov.
Why does the calculator hold the limit at this year's figure?
Future limits aren't known yet. The IRS usually raises them over time, so holding them flat means the projection may understate what you're allowed later. That's the cautious direction to be wrong in.
Is the growth figure what I'll actually have?
No. It's an estimate built on the return you chose, and real markets move up and down. Use it to compare choices, like contributing a bit more or starting a few years sooner.
Sources & references
Go deeper
The calculator gives you a number. The Retirement Accounts Brick teaches you what to do with it, in plain English. And if you’re not sure where to start, the free BrickScore Assessment checks your whole foundation in about 5 minutes.
first the number, then the move