acalculator

How much will my 457 plan grow?

Type your age, salary, the percent you defer and your expected return. The 457 calculator projects your 457(b) deferred compensation balance at retirement within the 2026 IRS limit of $24,500, with the age 50 and age 60 to 63 catch-ups of governmental plans or the special catch-up in the 3 years before your plan’s normal retirement age.

Your numbers

Many 457(b) plans have none.
Plan type
Returns are never guaranteed.
Raises and inflation
Special 457(b) catch-up
At retirement you’ll have
$719,874.74

At 6% a year, your 457(b) grows to $719,874.74 by age 62.

Balance today
$20,000.00
Your deferrals
$284,967.43
Employer contributions
$0.00
Investment growth
$414,907.30
In today’s moneyIf prices rise by the inflation rate each year
$324,079.73
You put in this year
$7,000.00
Your employer adds this year
$0.00
Your 457(b) limit this year
$24,500.00
Special catch-up this year
$0.00
Months
324

At retirement you’ll have: $719,874.74. At 6% a year, your 457(b) grows to $719,874.74 by age 62.

Where does the money come from?

How does your 457(b) grow?

What does each year look like?

The results are estimates for information only. They are not financial, tax, or legal advice. Check the numbers with your lender or a qualified professional before you decide. Terms of use

How to calculate

Projects a 457(b) deferred compensation balance at retirement from your salary, deferral rate and any employer money, within the 2026 IRS limit, with the age 50 and 60 to 63 catch-ups or the special 3-year catch-up.

Example with the default inputs (Your age 35, Retirement age 62, 457(b) balance today $20,000.00, Yearly salary $70,000.00, You defer 10%, Employer puts in 0%, Plan type Governmental, Expected yearly return 6%, Yearly raise 3%, Prices rise each year by 3%): At 6% a year, your 457(b) grows to $719,874.74 by age 62.

Method: Each year, limit = min($24,500, salary) + the larger of the age catch-up (governmental plans) and the special 3-year catch-up; employer = min(employer % × salary, the special ceiling when it applies, else min($24,500, salary)); you = min(your % × salary, limit − employer); spread over 12 months, growing at (1 + R)^(1/12) − 1 a month.

  • The 2026 IRS limits stay the same in later years. The IRS usually raises them with inflation.
  • Your salary is your includible compensation, and the plan counts all of it.
  • The 457(b) limit is separate from 401(k) and 403(b) limits, so money in those plans does not reduce it.
  • Under SECURE 2.0, age catch-ups of people whose wages last year were over $145,000 (indexed) must be Roth; a plan with no Roth option allows them no age catch-up. The calculator does not apply this rule.
  • The return is the same every year. Fees and taxes are not included.
  • This is an estimate for planning, not financial advice.

Machine-readable copies: Markdown, JSON.

Worked examples

Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.

  1. Your age 30, Retirement age 31, 457(b) balance today $0.00, Yearly salary $60,000.00, You defer 10%, Plan type Governmental, Expected yearly return 0% gives At retirement you’ll have $6,000.00, You put in this year $6,000.00, Your 457(b) limit this year $24,500.00.Source: IRS, COLA increases for dollar limitations on benefits and contributions (2026: 457(e)(15) $24,500; catch-up $8,000; ages 60 to 63 $11,250), https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/cola-increases-for-dollar-limitations-on-benefits-and-contributions (retrieved 2026-10-02)
  2. Your age 55, Retirement age 56, 457(b) balance today $0.00, Yearly salary $200,000.00, You defer 20%, Plan type Governmental, Expected yearly return 0% gives You put in this year $32,500.00, Your 457(b) limit this year $32,500.00, At retirement you’ll have $32,500.00.Source: IRS, IRC 457(b) deferred compensation plans (employer and employee contributions together up to the 402(g) limit, $24,500 in 2026; age 50 catch-up of $8,000 in governmental plans; the special 457(b) catch-up in the three years before normal retirement age), https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/irc-457b-deferred-compensation-plans (retrieved 2026-10-02): a governmental plan participant 50 or over can defer $24,500 + $8,000 = $32,500 in 2026
  3. Your age 61, Retirement age 62, 457(b) balance today $0.00, Yearly salary $200,000.00, You defer 30%, Plan type Governmental, Expected yearly return 0% gives You put in this year $35,750.00, Your 457(b) limit this year $35,750.00.Source: IRS, COLA increases for dollar limitations on benefits and contributions (2026: 457(e)(15) $24,500; catch-up $8,000; ages 60 to 63 $11,250), https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/cola-increases-for-dollar-limitations-on-benefits-and-contributions (retrieved 2026-10-02): the catch-up at ages 60 to 63 is $11,250
  4. Your age 55, Retirement age 56, 457(b) balance today $0.00, Yearly salary $200,000.00, You defer 20%, Plan type Tax-exempt employer, Expected yearly return 0% gives You put in this year $24,500.00, Your 457(b) limit this year $24,500.00.Source: IRS, IRC 457(b) deferred compensation plans (employer and employee contributions together up to the 402(g) limit, $24,500 in 2026; age 50 catch-up of $8,000 in governmental plans; the special 457(b) catch-up in the three years before normal retirement age), https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/irc-457b-deferred-compensation-plans (retrieved 2026-10-02): only governmental 457(b) plans may allow the age 50 catch-up
  5. Your age 62, Retirement age 63, 457(b) balance today $0.00, Yearly salary $150,000.00, You defer 50%, Plan type Governmental, Expected yearly return 0%, Plan’s normal retirement age 65, Limit not used in earlier years $30,000.00 gives Your 457(b) limit this year $49,000.00, You put in this year $49,000.00, Special catch-up this year $24,500.00.Source: 26 U.S. Code § 457(b)(3), Legal Information Institute (in the last 3 taxable years before normal retirement age, the ceiling is the lesser of twice the dollar limit or the year’s ceiling plus the ceiling not used in earlier years), https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/457 (retrieved 2026-10-02): the lesser of twice the limit ($49,000) or the limit plus unused amounts ($54,500); IRS, Retirement topics: 457(b) contribution limits (contributions cannot exceed the lesser of 100% of includible compensation or the elective deferral limit; the special 457(b) catch-up for the 3 years before normal retirement age is allowed only if not using the age 50 catch-up), https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-457b-contribution-limits (retrieved 2026-10-02): instead of the $11,250 age catch-up
  6. Your age 30, Retirement age 31, 457(b) balance today $0.00, Yearly salary $100,000.00, You defer 25%, Employer puts in 5%, Plan type Governmental, Expected yearly return 0% gives Your employer adds this year $5,000.00, You put in this year $19,500.00, At retirement you’ll have $24,500.00.Source: IRS, IRC 457(b) deferred compensation plans (employer and employee contributions together up to the 402(g) limit, $24,500 in 2026; age 50 catch-up of $8,000 in governmental plans; the special 457(b) catch-up in the three years before normal retirement age), https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/irc-457b-deferred-compensation-plans (retrieved 2026-10-02): employer and employee contributions together count toward the limit
  7. Your age 30, Retirement age 40, 457(b) balance today $10,000.00, Yearly salary $50,000.00, Yearly raise 0%, You defer 12%, Plan type Governmental, Expected yearly return 7% gives At retirement you’ll have $105,197.38, Your deferrals $60,000.00.Source: IRS, COLA increases for dollar limitations on benefits and contributions (2026: 457(e)(15) $24,500; catch-up $8,000; ages 60 to 63 $11,250), https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/cola-increases-for-dollar-limitations-on-benefits-and-contributions (retrieved 2026-10-02)

How the contributions are worked out

Year k is this year (k = 0), next year (k = 1), and so on, until the year before your retirement age. Your age in year k is your age + k, and your salary is salary × (1 + raise)^k. An empty raise or employer percent counts as 0%.

The IRS limits are the 2026 amounts, used for every year:

Limit2026
457(b) limit: your deferrals plus any employer money$24,500
Catch-up, age 50 or older (governmental plans only)$8,000
Catch-up, ages 60 to 63 (governmental plans only, instead of $8,000)$11,250

Each year:

  1. Base limit = the lesser of $24,500 and your salary (100% of includible compensation).
  2. Age catch-up = in a governmental plan, $11,250 if your age that year is 60 to 63, else $8,000 if it is 50 or more, else 0. A tax-exempt employer’s plan has none.
  3. Special catch-up room = when the plan’s normal retirement age is typed and your age that year is from (that age − 3) up to (that age − 1): the lesser of $24,500 and the unused limit still left, never below 0. Otherwise 0.
  4. Your limit = base limit + the larger of the age catch-up and the special room. So the limit is at most twice $24,500.
  5. Your employer adds = the lesser of (employer % × salary) and the base limit; in a year when the special room is the larger catch-up, the lesser of (employer % × salary) and your limit, because the special ceiling covers employer and employee money together, while the age catch-up is for your own deferrals only.
  6. You put in = the lesser of (your % × salary) and (your limit − what your employer adds).
  7. Special catch-up used = when the special room is larger than the age catch-up: the lesser of the special room and (what you put in + what your employer adds − base limit), not below 0; otherwise 0. The unused limit left for later years falls by this amount.

Both yearly amounts are split into 12 equal monthly amounts.

How the balance grows

The yearly return R becomes a monthly rate g = (1 + R)^(1/12) − 1. Each month, growth = balance × g is added, then your and your employer’s monthly amounts are added. This runs for 12 × (retirement age − your age) months.

  • At retirement you’ll have is the balance after the last month.
  • Your deferrals and employer contributions add up every monthly amount. Investment growth is the final balance minus today’s balance and both totals.
  • In today’s money is the final balance ÷ (1 + inflation)^(retirement age − your age). It is left out when the inflation rate is empty.
  • You put in this year, your employer adds this year, your 457(b) limit this year and special catch-up this year are the year k = 0 amounts.

If the retirement age is not more than your age, there is no answer.

Assumptions

  • The 2026 IRS limits stay the same in later years. Your salary is your includible compensation.
  • The 457(b) limit is separate from 401(k) and 403(b) limits.
  • Under SECURE 2.0, age catch-ups of people whose wages last year were over $145,000 (indexed) must be Roth contributions; if the plan has no Roth option, their age catch-up is $0 (IRS). The calculator does not apply this rule.
  • The return is the same every year. Fees and taxes are not included. This is an estimate for planning, not financial advice.

When the data is out of date

The limits are the IRS limits for 2026. After December 31, 2026, the calculator keeps using them until the page is updated, and the result says “Uses 2026 IRS 457(b) limits”. The IRS usually raises the limits each year.

Worked examples by hand

$60,000 salary, 10% deferred, one year at 0%. 10% × 60,000 = $6,000, under the $24,500 limit.

Age 55, governmental plan, $200,000, 20%. Limit = 24,500 + 8,000 = $32,500; 20% is $40,000, so you put in $32,500.

Age 61, governmental plan, $200,000, 30%. Limit = 24,500 + 11,250 = $35,750.

Age 55, tax-exempt employer’s plan. No age catch-up: limit $24,500.

Age 62, normal retirement age 65, $30,000 unused, $150,000, 50%. Age 62 is in the 3 years before 65. Special room = the lesser of 24,500 and 30,000 = $24,500, larger than the $11,250 age catch-up, so the limit is 24,500 + 24,500 = $49,000. You put in $49,000, of which $24,500 is the special catch-up.

$100,000 salary, 25% deferred, employer 5%. Employer = $5,000; you put in the lesser of $25,000 and 24,500 − 5,000 = $19,500. Together $24,500.

$10,000 today, $50,000 salary, 12% deferred, 7% for 10 years. You put in $6,000 a year, $500 a month. g = 1.07^(1/12) − 1. Balance after 120 months: 10,000 × 1.07^10 + 500 × ((1 + g)^120 − 1) ÷ g = 19,671.51 + 85,525.87 = $105,197.38. Your deferrals $60,000.

Other questions people ask

What is the 457(b) contribution limit for 2026?

$24,500, or 100% of your includible compensation if that is less. In a 457(b) plan, any employer money counts toward the same limit. In a governmental plan, participants 50 or older can add an $8,000 catch-up ($32,500 in all), and $11,250 at ages 60 to 63.

What is the special 457(b) catch-up?

In the 3 years before the normal retirement age your plan names, you can make up limits you did not use in earlier years: up to twice the yearly limit ($49,000 in 2026), or the limit plus the unused amount if that is less. You cannot use it and the age 50 catch-up in the same year; the calculator uses whichever allows more.

Can I contribute to a 457(b) and a 401(k) or 403(b)?

Yes. The 457(b) limit is separate from the 401(k) and 403(b) deferral limit, so someone with both a 403(b) and a governmental 457(b) can defer up to $24,500 in each in 2026. That is one reason teachers and public employees use 457(b) plans.

How is a 457(b) different from a 401(k)?

A 457(b) is a deferred compensation plan for state and local government workers and some tax-exempt organizations. Withdrawals from a governmental 457(b) after you leave the employer have no 10% early withdrawal tax, even before 59½. Employer matches are less common, and when they exist they count toward the same limit.

How does the calculator grow my balance?

Each year’s deferrals are split into 12 monthly amounts. Each month the balance grows at the monthly rate that compounds to your yearly return, (1 + R)^(1/12) − 1, and then the month’s money is added. With $10,000 today and $500 a month at 7% for 10 years, the balance reaches about $105,197.