Tested Templates & Toolstested before it ships

● Free tool · open enrollment

Open enrollment paycheck calculator: what your benefit elections do to take-home pay

Enter what comes out of each paycheck for each benefit this year and next year, and how it's taken. See the tax each one saves and how much your take-home pay changes. Pre-tax premiums, HSA and FSA money skip income tax and FICA; a pre-tax 401(k) skips income tax only; Roth and after-tax deductions save nothing now.

✓ TestedSame calculation as the tested spreadsheet

Each benefit: how it's taken, then this year and next year per paycheck

Take-home pay per paycheck, next year vs this year–
This yearNext year
Taken from each paycheck
Tax saved over the year
Your cost after tax, per year
BenefitTax saved next yearChange in your cost per paycheck

Per year = per paycheck × paychecks. Tax saved = per year × (federal + state + FICA) for pre-tax cafeteria-plan deductions, × (federal + state) for a pre-tax 401(k), 0 for Roth and after-tax. Change in take-home per paycheck = −(change in what's taken) + (change in tax saved) ÷ paychecks. Your rates are treated as fixed, so this estimates the change; it isn't a payroll calculation. FICA is 7.65% on pay up to the Social Security wage base ($184,500 in 2026) and 1.45% above it. A few states tax some pre-tax benefits. The spreadsheet adds 25 lines, employer money and checks against the 2027 HSA, FSA and 401(k) limits.

How it works

A pre-tax deduction costs less than it takes from your paycheck, because the money isn't taxed. Health, dental and vision premiums, HSA contributions through payroll and FSA elections go through a cafeteria plan, so they skip federal and state income tax and FICA. A pre-tax 401(k) skips income tax but not FICA. Roth and after-tax deductions save nothing now. In the example, moving from a PPO to a high-deductible plan with an HSA, raising the dependent care FSA and adding a Roth 401(k) takes $1,027.77 from each paycheck instead of $688.45, but saves $8,383.25 of tax over the year instead of $5,789.15, so take-home pay falls by $239.55 a paycheck, not the full $339.32. The spreadsheet adds 25 lines, employer money and checks against the 2027 HSA, FSA and 401(k) limits.

Worked examples