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Retirement

Pension Contribution Calculator

What a pension contribution really costs after tax relief, with your employer's and the government's money, the annual limit and the pot it grows to.

Reviewed by CentExactRates effective 45 sourcesCalculated in your browser. Shared links include inputs.

What your contribution costs you

$3,510 a year

for $4,500 of your own into Traditional 401(k), after $990 of tax relief

Relief 22% of the contribution$6,750 a year into the pension
Where you save

Taken from pay before federal and state income tax, though Social Security and Medicare are still charged on it.

Your pay and contribution
$

Gross pay before tax and before the contribution.

% of salary

$4,500 a year.

% of salary

A common employer match, such as 50% of the first 6% of pay; no law requires one.

Your tax position
Projection

Opens on the state pension age, 67.

% a year

Before inflation and after fees.

$

  • Tax relief

    $990

    a year

  • Into the pension

    $6,750

    a year, with what others add

  • At 67

    $767,550

    after 32 years at 7%

United States pension and tax rules. An estimate from published rates, confirm current figures with the official source.

Where the money comes from

A year of contributions, the relief on them and what reaches the pension
LineA year
Your contribution$4,500
Income tax saved$990
Costs you$3,510
Your employer adds$2,250
Into the pension in the year$6,750
How the tax relief was found

Withdrawals in retirement are taxed as income.

The United States take-home engine works out a year at $75,000 twice: with no contribution, take-home pay is $61,593; with $4,500 entered the way Traditional 401(k) takes it, it is $58,083. Your contribution of $4,500 therefore costs $3,510.

The annual limit: $24,500

The section 402(g) elective deferral limit for 2026, shared by traditional and Roth deferrals, with the section 414(v) catch-up from age 50 and the larger SECURE 2.0 catch-up at ages 60 to 63.

Annual limit: $24,500 for your own contribution this year. You are using $4,500 of it.

How the pension builds
  • Contributions
  • Growth

A result link includes the numbers you entered. Share it only with people you want to see them.

How this is calculated

A pension contribution costs you less than its face value whenever the tax system lets it in before tax, and the gap is the relief. The calculator runs your country's take-home pay engine on the year's salary without the contribution and again with it entered the way your scheme takes it, then adds what sits outside the payslip: a provider's top-up, a claim on your return, your employer's share, a government contribution and any tax charged in the fund. Whatever reaches the pension is grown monthly at the return you choose until your retirement age.

cost to youtake-home(without) − take-home(with) + paid from taxed pay − claims

into the pensionyour contribution + employer + top-ups − tax on the way in

take-home
your pay after tax and contributions, from the country's take-home engine
paid from taxed pay
the part of the contribution that leaves your account rather than your payslip
Limits, top-ups and employer rates come from the pension dataset listed under Data sources; the tax rules from the tax dataset.

What this does not include

  • Fees charged by the pension provider or fund, which reduce the growth shown.
  • Tax on the money when you take it out, which most schemes charge as income.
  • Unused allowance or room carried forward from earlier years.
  • Salary rises: the projection keeps this year's contribution every year.
  • Your state pension, and any employer pension that is not a contribution to this scheme.

How pension tax relief works: limits, top-ups and the real cost. Why one contribution costs a basic-rate and a higher-rate taxpayer different sums, how each limit works, and what employers and governments add.

Data sources

United States: 401(k) and IRA contribution limits, 2026IRS Notice 2025-67Within its effective period
United Kingdom: pension tax relief and the annual allowance, 2026-27GOV.UKWithin its effective period
Germany: Entgeltumwandlung limits for a Betriebsrente, 2026Deutsche RentenversicherungWithin its effective period
Canada: RRSP deduction limit and TFSA limit, 2026Canada Revenue AgencyWithin its effective period
Australia: superannuation contribution caps and tax, 2026-27ATOWithin its effective period
Ireland: pension tax relief limits and auto-enrolment, 2026RevenueWithin its effective period
Netherlands: jaarruimte for lijfrente premiums, 2026BelastingdienstWithin its effective period
New Zealand: KiwiSaver contributions and government contribution, 2026-27Inland RevenueWithin its effective period
Sweden: salary exchange into occupational pension, and ISK, 2026SkatteverketWithin its effective period
India: NPS and provident fund contributions, 2026-27Income Tax DepartmentWithin its effective period
Sri Lanka: EPF and ETF contributions, 2026-27Central Bank of Sri LankaWithin its effective period
Finland: deduction for voluntary pension savings, 2026VeroWithin its effective period
Japan: iDeCo contribution limits and NISA, 2026MHLWDue for a check
France: PER deduction ceiling for contributions paid in 2026Service-public.frWithin its effective period
Spain: pension plan contribution limits, 2026Ley 35/2006 del IRPFWithin its effective period
US federal income tax and FICA, tax year 2026IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments)Within its effective period
UK income tax (rUK and Scotland), Class 1 National Insurance and student loans, 2026/27GOV.UKWithin its effective period
Germany: Lohnsteuer (BMF Programmablaufplan 2026), Solidaritätszuschlag, Kirchensteuer and social insurance 2026BMFWithin its effective period
Canada: federal and provincial payroll deductions, CPP, CPP2 and EI, 2026CRAWithin its effective period
Australia: individual income tax, Medicare levy, LITO, HELP and superannuation, 2026-27ATOWithin its effective period
Ireland: income tax, USC and PRSI Class A, 2026RevenueWithin its effective period
Netherlands: box 1 wage tax, national insurance and tax credits, 2026BelastingdienstWithin its effective period
New Zealand: PAYE, ACC earners' levy, KiwiSaver and student loan, 2026-27Inland RevenueWithin its effective period
Sweden: municipal and state income tax, grundavdrag and jobbskatteavdrag, 2026SkatteverketWithin its effective period
India: income tax under the new and old regimes, EPF and professional tax, FY 2026-27Income Tax DepartmentWithin its effective period
Sri Lanka: APIT (PAYE) and EPF, year of assessment 2026/27Inland Revenue DepartmentWithin its effective period
Finland: state and municipal income tax, contributions and the work income credit, 2026Laki vuoden 2026 tuloveroasteikosta 1140/2025Within its effective period
Japan: income tax, the reconstruction surtax, inhabitant tax and social insurance, 2026National Tax AgencyWithin its effective period
France: cotisations salariales, CSG and CRDS, and the 2026 income tax barèmeService-PublicWithin its effective period
Spain: IRPF state and autonomous scales, social security and the 2026 withholding algorithmAEATWithin its effective period
United States consumer finance conventionsSocial Security AdministrationWithin its effective period
United Kingdom consumer finance conventionsGOV.UKWithin its effective period
German consumer finance conventionsDeutsche RentenversicherungWithin its effective period
Canadian consumer finance conventionsGovernment of CanadaWithin its effective period
Australian consumer finance conventionsServices AustraliaWithin its effective period
Irish consumer finance conventionsCitizens InformationWithin its effective period
Dutch consumer finance conventionsSVBWithin its effective period
New Zealand consumer finance conventionsWork and IncomeWithin its effective period
Swedish consumer finance conventionsPensionsmyndighetenWithin its effective period
Indian consumer finance conventionsReserve Bank of IndiaWithin its effective period
Sri Lankan consumer finance conventionsCentral Bank of Sri LankaWithin its effective period
Finnish consumer finance conventionsFinnish Centre for PensionsWithin its effective period
Japanese consumer finance conventionsJapan Pension ServiceWithin its effective period
French consumer finance conventionsService-public.frWithin its effective period
Spanish consumer finance conventionsSeguridad SocialWithin its effective period

Every document each dataset was read from, its notes and how the figures were checked are listed in the guide's data sources.

CentExactCalculator publisher

CentExact publishes the calculation method, worked examples and available data sources. Automated checks cover reference calculations; they do not certify a result for your circumstances or imply approval by a lender or tax authority.

How we build and test our calculators

Figures are estimates derived from published rates and rules, current at the review date shown at the top of this page and taken from the sources listed under Data sources on this page. Rates, fees and thresholds change; always confirm current values with the official source before relying on a result.