Individual 401(k) Savings Calculator Glossary of Terms

Definitions

Self-employment income

This is your annual income from self-employment. Your maximum contribution is based on your self-employment income; do not include any income you may receive from sources.

Annual contribution

The amount you will contribute to your Individual 401(k) each year. All contributions are assumed to happen at the beginning of the year.

Maximum annual contribution

This is the maximum amount you are allowed to contribute to your Individual 401(k) account per year. In 2008, the maximum contribution to an Individual 401(k) is $46,000 (an increase of $1,000 over 2007) for individuals under 50, and $51,000 for those 50 and over. Self-employment income of $152,500 or more is required to qualify for the maximum contribution in 2008.

If you earn less than $152,500 in 2008, your maximum is calculated as follows: First, as the employee, you are able to contribute up to $15,500 in 2008 to your Individual 401(k) or 100% of your self-employment income, whichever is less. For individuals age 50 or over, an additional $5,000 catch-up contribution increases this portion of your contribution to $20,500, but still limited to no more than 100% of your earned income. Second, you are allowed employer contributions - even though self-employed people are fact their own employee. Employer contributions, for the self-employed, are limited to an additional 20% of their income, up to the maximum total amount allowed per year.

As an example, consider a 25-year-old self-employed person earning $40,000 per year. They would be able to contribute:

$15,500 as an employee contribution
$8,000 as employer contributions (20% X $40,000 = $8,000)
$23,500 Maximum contribution for 2008

It is important to note that you may be subject to additional contribution limitations if you participate in an additional retirement program through another employer. For 2008, total retirement plan contributions are limited to $46,000 or 100% of your total compensation for the year. This includes contributions to your Individual 401(k) as well as any other employer plan. It also includes profit matching and employer contributions. Contributions to a Traditional IRA or Roth IRA are not included in this limit. Catch-up contributions for individuals over 50 are also not included in this limit.

Current age

Your current age.

Age of retirement

Age you wish to retire. This calculator assumes that the year you retire, you do not make any contributions to your Individual 401(k). So if you retire at age 65, your last contribution happened when you were actually 64.

Current Individual 401(k) balance

The starting balance or current amount you have invested or saved in your Individual 401(k).

Annual rate of return

The annual rate of return for your Individual 401(k) account. This calculator assumes that your return is compounded annually and your deposits are made monthly. The actual rate of return is largely dependant on the type of investments you select. From January 1970 to December 2007, the average compounded rate of return for the S&P 500, including reinvestment of dividends, was approximately 11.4% per year (source: www.standardandpoors.com). During this period, the highest 12-month return was 61%, and the lowest was -39%. Savings accounts at a bank can pay as little as 1% or less.

It is important to remember 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 funds and/or investment companies may charge.