● Money & small business
How much to put in your 401(k) by age: the contribution rate that reaches your goal
"How much should I put in my 401(k)?" depends mostly on one thing: when you start. Here's the contribution rate it takes to reach the same goal from different starting ages and salaries, all from the same year-by-year model as our retirement savings planner, which was checked against an independent calculation. The assumptions are examples, not a forecast.
The assumptions
- Goal: savings that pay 40% of today's salary a year, in today's dollars, at a 4% withdrawal rate. Social Security or a pension would come on top.
- Retire at 65. Salary grows 3% a year, inflation is 2.5%, investments return 6% a year.
- The employer matches 50% of contributions up to 6% of salary. Contributions are capped at the 2026 IRS limit ($24,500; +$8,000 from 50, +$11,250 at 60–63), growing with inflation.
- The rate shown is your own contribution, rounded up to a whole percent; the match comes on top.
Starting from nothing
| Start at | $50,000 salary | $75,000 | $100,000 | $150,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 9% | 9% | 9% | 9% |
| 30 | 12% | 12% | 12% | 12% |
| 35 | 16% | 16% | 16% | 17% |
| 40 | 23% | 23% | 23% | over 40% * |
| 45 | 33% | 33% | over 40% * | over 40% * |
| 50 | over 40% | over 40% | over 40% | over 40% |
Because the goal is a share of salary, the rate is the same for every salary, until the IRS limit gets in the way. * At $150,000 from 40, or $100,000 from 45, the rate needed would put contributions over the annual limit, so no rate reaches the goal inside the 401(k) alone: the rest would have to come from an IRA or other saving. At $150,000 from 35 it's 17% rather than 16% for the same reason: salary grows faster than the limit here, so after about five years a 16% contribution would be capped.
Each five years of delay costs a few more points of salary: 9% at 25 becomes 12% at 30, 16% at 35, 23% at 40 and 33% at 45.
If you've already been saving
Most people who start "late" at 40 or 45 aren't starting from zero. The same $75,000 salary, with savings already built as a multiple of salary:
| Age | Already saved | Rate needed from now |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | nothing | 9% |
| 30 | half a year's salary ($37,500) | 10% |
| 35 | 1 × salary ($75,000) | 11% |
| 40 | 2 × salary ($150,000) | 11% |
| 45 | 3 × salary ($225,000) | 12% |
| 50 | 4 × salary ($300,000) | 15% |
| 55 | 6 × salary ($450,000) | 11% |
With savings on track, the rate stays between 9% and 15% at every age. The table from nothing is what happens when the early years are missing.
What 10% buys, by starting age
Same $75,000 salary, starting from nothing, contributing 10% plus the match: the yearly income in today's dollars at 65.
| Start at | Income a year (today's $) | Share of today's salary |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | $34,006 | 45% |
| 30 | $26,689 | 36% |
| 35 | $20,553 | 27% |
| 40 | $15,413 | 21% |
| 45 | $11,115 | 15% |
| 50 | $7,527 | 10% |
| 55 | $4,539 | 6% |
Finding your own rate
- Decide the income you want from savings, in today's dollars, on top of Social Security.
- Enter your age, salary, balance and your employer's match in the free 401(k) match calculator: it finds the rate that reaches your goal and the age you'd get there at today's rate.
- At the very least, contribute enough to get the full match. What missing part of the match costs shows why.
Every figure above comes from the same model as our retirement savings planner, checked year by year against an independent calculation. Returns vary from year to year and this model uses a steady average. Taxes, fees and Social Security aren't included. Not financial advice.