457 Savings Calculator

The purpose of the 457 Savings Calculator is to illustrate how the 457 can help you save for your retirement. To use this tool you will need to enter the percent you want to contribute each year, your current annual salary, your current age, your current 457 account balance, your age at retirement, your annual rate of return, the employer match rate, and the employer match maximum. This calculator will take all of this information into consideration and then produce a graph that charts the growth of your retirement investments between now and when you retire.

By changing any value in the following form fields, calculated values are immediately provided for displayed output values. Click the view report button to see all of your results.

Your total is $756,477 after 35 years.

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457 Employee Savings Plan:

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Percent to contribute:*This entry is Required.Enter an amount between 0% and 100%

Annual salary:*This entry is Required.Enter an amount between $0 and $1,000,000

Annual salary increase:*This entry is Required.Enter an amount between 0% and 12%

Current age:*This entry is Required.Enter an amount between 15 and 90

Age at retirement:*This entry is Required.Enter an amount between 10 and 90

Current 457 balance:*This entry is Required.Enter an amount between $0 and $10,000,000

Annual rate of return:*This entry is Required.Enter an amount between 0% and 20%

Total employee contributions:

$140,000

457 Employer Match:

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Employer match:*This entry is Required.Enter an amount between 0% and 400%

Employer match ends:*This entry is Required.Enter an amount between 0% and 100%

Total employer contributions:

$42,000

**FIG_GRAPHTITLE** Column Graph: Please view the report to see detailed calculation results in tabular form.

457 Balance by Year

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Get your Rates!

Definitions

Annual salary

This is your annual salary from your employer before taxes and other benefit deductions. Since your contribution and company match are based on the salary paid to you by your employer, do not include any income you may receive from sources other than your employer.

Percent to contribute

This is the percentage of your annual salary you contribute to your 457 plan each year. This calculator limits your contribution to 50% of your salary.

Annual contribution limits

Your total contribution for one year is based on your annual salary times the percent you contribute. However, your annual contribution is also subject to certain maximum total contributions per year. The annual maximum for 2019 is $19,000. If you are age 50 or over, a 'catch-up' provision allows you to contribute an additional $6,000 into your 457 account. It is also important to note that employer contributions do not affect an employee's maximum annual contribution limit.

Current age

Your current age.

Age at retirement

Age you wish to retire. This calculator assumes that the year you retire you do not make any contributions to your 457. So if you retire at age 65, your last contribution occurs when you are actually 64.

Current 457 balance

The starting balance or current amount you have invested or saved in your 457.

Annual rate of return

The annual rate of return for your 457 account. This calculator assumes that your return is compounded annually and your deposits are made monthly. The actual rate of return is largely dependent on the types of investments you select. The Standard & Poor's 500® (S&P 500®) for the 10 years ending December 31^st 2018, had an annual compounded rate of return of 12.1%, including reinvestment of dividends. From January 1, 1970 to December 31^st 2018, the average annual compounded rate of return for the S&P 500®, including reinvestment of dividends, was approximately 10.2% (source: www.standardandpoors.com). Since 1970, the highest 12-month return was 61% (June 1982 through June 1983). The lowest 12-month return was -43% (March 2008 to March 2009). Savings accounts at a financial institution may pay as little as 0.25% or less but carry significantly lower risk of loss of principal balances.

It is important to remember that these scenarios are hypothetical and that future rates of return can't be predicted with certainty and that investments that pay higher rates of return are generally subject to higher risk and volatility. The actual rate of return on investments can vary widely over time, especially for long-term investments. This includes the potential loss of principal on your investment. It is not possible to invest directly in an index and the compounded rate of return noted above does not reflect sales charges and other fees that investment funds and/or investment companies may charge.

Employer match

An employer match is in addition to your annual contributions. It is based on a percentage of your annual contributions. This range can be anywhere from 0% to 100%.

For example, let's assume the employer matches 50% of the employee's contributions up to 6% of their salary. The employee earns $100,000 per year and contributes 10%. The results would be:

$10,000 from the employee
$3,000 from the employer (which is 50% of $6,000 or 6% of the annual salary)
Total: $13,000

Please read the definition for 'Employer maximum' for a detailed description of maximum employer matching contributions. It is important to note employer contributions do not affect the maximum annual deferral allowed to an employee. (The employee contribution plus any employer match cannot exceed the maximum allowed deferral.)

Employer maximum

This is the maximum percent of your salary matched by your employer regardless of the amount you decide to contribute. For example, let's assume your employer has a 50% match, up to a maximum of 6% of your annual salary. If you have an annual salary of $25,000 and contribute 6%, your annual contribution is $1,500. With a 50% match, your employer will add another $750 to your 457 account. If you increase your contribution to 10%, your annual contribution is $2,500 per year. Your employer match, however, is limited to the first 6% of your salary and remains at $750.

457 Savings Calculator Overview

A 457 savings plan is a great way to save for retirement, if you're fortunate enough to qualify for one. But predicting how much of a nest egg you'll eventually be able to end up with is challenging.

This 457 Savings Calculator is designed to help you make that prediction as accurately as possible. It not only takes into account your annual contributions, projected return on investments and years until retirement, but also allows you to figure in your anticipated growth in salary as well.

You can also play around with the figures by adjusting the sliding indicators to quickly see how variations in such things as your rate of return, annual contributions, salary increases, delaying or hastening retirement, etc. will affect the eventual size of your investment.

About 457 savings plans

A 457 savings plan is a special kind of deferred compensation plan that may be offered to governmental and certain non-governmental employees of non-profit organizations. It's similar to the more common 401(k) plan but with some key differences.

Like a 401(k), a 457 savings plan allows you to make tax-deferred contributions to a retirement investment account. Your contributions come out of your pre-tax earnings and reduce your tax bill today, and your investments grow tax free. You eventually do pay taxes on the money you withdraw from the account.

A 457 plan is often used as a supplement to a 401(k) or 401(b) savings plan. That's because while all three currently allow a maximum $18,000 in annual contributions (and potentially an additional $6,000 in "catch-up contributions for those age 50 and above), your 457 contribution maximum may be made in addition to your maximum 401(k) or 401(b) contributions. So you could potentially contribute up to $48,000 a year pre-tax for a 401 and 457 plan combined. Limits include employer contributions.

Unlike a 401 plan, there is no penalty for early withdrawals from a 457 savings plan. Withdrawals are still counted as income for tax purposes, however.

Like 401 plans, there are Roth options for 457 savings plans in which you make post-tax contributions in order to enjoy tax-free withdrawals later on.

Non-governmental 457 plans have certain limitations that governmental 457s do not. First, the earnings are not held in trust for the employee but are regarded as assets of the organization. This means the funds could be forfeited to creditors if the nonprofit goes bankrupt.

Funds in a non-governmental 457 also cannot be rolled over into any other type of retirement account other than another 457.

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