# How much will my 457 plan grow?

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.

- Page: https://www.acalculator.org/finance/457-calculator
- JSON spec: https://www.acalculator.org/finance/457-calculator.json
- Version: 90e7731ddc7f

## Default answer

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.

## Inputs

| Key | Label | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| age | Your age | Your age at the end of this year. The age in later years is this plus the years that pass. |
| retire | Retirement age | The age you stop contributing. Contributions run for (retirement age − your age) years. |
| balance | 457(b) balance today | What is in your 457(b) now. |
| salary | Yearly salary | Your pay this year, before tax: the includible compensation the limit is capped at. |
| pct | You defer | The percent of your salary you put in, before the IRS limit. |
| emp | Employer puts in | Any employer contribution, as a percent of your salary. It counts toward the same 457(b) limit. |
| plan | Plan type | A governmental plan (state or local government) allows the age 50 catch-up; a tax-exempt organization’s plan does not. |
| rate | Expected yearly return | The yearly return, as the percent the balance grows in a year. It stays the same every year. |
| raise | Yearly raise | The percent your salary goes up at the start of each new year. |
| inflation | Prices rise each year by | The yearly inflation rate used to show the balance at retirement in today’s money. |
| nra | Plan’s normal retirement age | The normal retirement age your plan names. The special catch-up applies in the 3 years before it. |
| unused | Limit not used in earlier years | The total of the 457(b) limits you did not use in earlier years with this plan, which the special catch-up can make up. |

## Outputs

| Key | Label | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| total | At retirement you’ll have | The 457(b) balance at the end of the last month before retirement. |
| start | Balance today | The balance you start with. |
| yours | Your deferrals | Everything you put in from now until retirement. |
| employer | Employer contributions | Everything your employer puts in from now until retirement. |
| growth | Investment growth | The balance at retirement minus today’s balance and all contributions. |
| real | In today’s money | The balance at retirement divided by (1 + inflation) to the power of the years. |
| yearYou | You put in this year | Your deferral this year, after the IRS limit. |
| yearEmployer | Your employer adds this year | Your employer’s contribution this year, within the limit. |
| limit | Your 457(b) limit this year | The most you and your employer can put in this year: the lesser of $24,500 and your salary, plus the larger catch-up you qualify for (2026 limits). |
| special | Special catch-up this year | The part of this year’s contributions that uses the special 457(b) catch-up. |

## 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.

## Assumptions

- 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.

## Worked examples

1. age = 30, retire = 31, balance = $0.00, salary = $60,000.00, pct = 10%, plan = governmental, rate = 0% gives total = $6,000.00, yearYou = $6,000.00, limit = $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. age = 55, retire = 56, balance = $0.00, salary = $200,000.00, pct = 20%, plan = governmental, rate = 0% gives yearYou = $32,500.00, limit = $32,500.00, total = $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. age = 61, retire = 62, balance = $0.00, salary = $200,000.00, pct = 30%, plan = governmental, rate = 0% gives yearYou = $35,750.00, limit = $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. age = 55, retire = 56, balance = $0.00, salary = $200,000.00, pct = 20%, plan = tax-exempt, rate = 0% gives yearYou = $24,500.00, limit = $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. age = 62, retire = 63, balance = $0.00, salary = $150,000.00, pct = 50%, plan = governmental, rate = 0%, nra = 65, unused = $30,000.00 gives limit = $49,000.00, yearYou = $49,000.00, special = $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. age = 30, retire = 31, balance = $0.00, salary = $100,000.00, pct = 25%, emp = 5%, plan = governmental, rate = 0% gives yearEmployer = $5,000.00, yearYou = $19,500.00, total = $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. age = 30, retire = 40, balance = $10,000.00, salary = $50,000.00, raise = 0%, pct = 12%, plan = governmental, rate = 7% gives total = $105,197.38, yours = $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).

## FAQ

### 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.

## Sources

- IRS, IRC 457(b) deferred compensation plans (deferral limit, age 50 catch-up in governmental plans, the special 457(b) catch-up). https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/irc-457b-deferred-compensation-plans (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- IRS, Retirement topics: 457(b) contribution limits (the lesser of 100% of includible compensation or the limit; the special catch-up 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)
- 26 U.S. Code § 457(b)(3), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (the special catch-up ceiling: 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)
- IRS, COLA increases for dollar limitations on benefits and contributions (2026: 457(e)(15) limit $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)