Terms of Use

The terms these calculators are provided on, what they model, and the limits of what an estimate can tell you.

These terms govern your use of 401k Calculator, the site published at 401kscalculator.com. Using the site means accepting them. Nothing here overrides what the IRS says, and where the two disagree, the IRS document is the one to follow.

Running a calculator here does not make anything advice

Everything on this site is general educational information. It is not investment advice, tax advice or legal advice, and it is not a recommendation to do anything in particular with your 401(k) or your IRA.

We are not a registered investment adviser, a broker-dealer, a certified public accounting firm or a law firm. Using a calculator here does not create any advisory, fiduciary or professional relationship. Retirement decisions turn on facts we know nothing about: your other assets, your health, your plan's own rules, whether your state taxes retirement income, whether a Roth election makes sense at the bracket you will actually retire in. A calculator cannot know any of that. Before acting on anything you read here, speak to a licensed professional who can see your whole position.

Every projection here is a model, and every model here simplifies

Each one states its assumptions and its limits on its own page.

Projections use a single fixed rate of return, which real markets do not provide. The order in which good and bad years arrive changes the outcome and is not modelled at all. Tax calculations cover federal income tax and payroll tax only, so Social Security and Medicare are in and state and local tax are not. Plan-specific rules are unknown to us, and your plan document always governs.

Results are estimates. They will not match your plan statement, your payroll system or your tax return, and they are not intended to. What you get is arithmetic run on the numbers you typed, against the IRS figures in force on the day you ran it.

Figures are checked, and the site is still provided as is

We work hard to keep figures current and correct, and every one of them cites the IRS notice, revenue procedure or SSA announcement it came from. No credentialed professional reviews this site, and we say so plainly on the about page. Even so, tax law changes, sources contain errors, and we make mistakes. The site is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including any warranty of accuracy, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. We would rather fix an error than defend it.

If you find one, please report it.

If a wrong number here costs you money, the loss is yours

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any loss or damage arising from your use of this site or reliance on anything in it, including any financial loss, lost opportunity or tax liability, whether direct, indirect, incidental or consequential.

That clause means what it says. Set your deferral rate from a figure on this site, find later that the figure was stale, and the shortfall is yours to carry—which is the argument for clicking through to the IRS notice before you act on anything that matters.

Quote it, use it at work, do not scrape it flat

You may use these calculators freely for personal and professional purposes, and you may quote short extracts with attribution and a link. You may not scrape the site at a rate that degrades it for others, republish substantial portions of the content as your own, or present our figures as endorsed by the IRS or any other government agency.

We link to the IRS and the SSA, and we control neither

We link to IRS, Social Security Administration and Department of Labor publications, and occasionally to other resources. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their content or their privacy practices. Government agencies move documents without warning, so a source link that worked in January can be dead by June; tell us and it gets repointed.

Advertisements pay for this, and nobody buys a mention

This site is funded by display advertising. Advertisements are served by third parties, and their presence is not an endorsement of any provider, fund or IRA custodian. We do not accept payment for editorial placement or for favourable treatment of any provider.

Carry on using the site and you accept the revised terms

These terms may be updated, and continued use of the site after a change means you accept the revised version.