401(k) Early Withdrawal Calculator
The withdrawal, and what you would give up
Your result will appear here
Fill in the fields on the left and this updates as you type.
Know what this estimate is based on
- Jurisdiction
- General mathematical model
- Scope and limitations
- Scenario model, not a forecast. Returns, volatility, inflation, fees, and taxes are assumptions and actual investment outcomes can be lower or negative.
- Source links checked
- Jul 30, 2026
Built and regression-tested by Smart Tools Lab. It has not been individually reviewed by a licensed financial, tax, or legal professional.
How to use
- 01
Enter the amount you are thinking of taking out and your age.
- 02
Enter your federal and state marginal rates.
- 03
Add the years to retirement and the return you would expect, so the page can price what the money would have become.
- 04
Read the three numbers a cash-out really produces — what lands in your account today, what it costs in total, and the bill still waiting at filing — against rolling it over instead.
Formula
Cash in hand = gross − 20% withheld. Total cost = gross × (federal + state + 10% penalty). Settle-up at filing = withholding − total cost, negative when you still owe. Rolled over instead = gross × (1 + return)^years.
Example
Taking $25,000 at 40 in a 22% bracket with 5% state tax: $5,000 is withheld, so $20,000 arrives. The real cost is 37% of the gross, or $9,250, so $15,750 is what you keep — and $4,250 of it turns up as a bill at filing. Rolled over instead, the same $25,000 at 7% would be $135,686 in 25 years.
Definitions
- Mandatory withholding
- 20% of an eligible rollover distribution, withheld by the plan as a prepayment of federal income tax.
- Early-distribution penalty
- An extra 10% on top of income tax, charged at filing rather than withheld, on withdrawals before 59½.
- Rule of 55
- Leave an employer in or after the year you turn 55 and that employer's plan can be drawn without the 10% penalty.
Good to know
Three numbers, not one
Ask what a $25,000 cash-out costs and most calculators give one figure, arrived at by subtracting the 20% withholding, the 10% penalty and your marginal tax from the gross. That is wrong, and wrong in the direction that makes the answer look worse than it is: the 20% is a prepayment of the federal income tax on the distribution, not a charge alongside it. Counting both charges the federal tax twice, and overstates the cost by roughly a fifth. The honest account needs three separate figures — what actually lands in your account, what the withdrawal really costs in total, and what is still owed when you file — because they arrive at three different times and the last one is the one that surprises people.
Why April brings a bill
The plan withholds 20% and stops there. It does not withhold the 10% early-distribution penalty, and it does not know your bracket or your state. So a $25,000 withdrawal in a 22% federal bracket with 5% state tax really costs 37% — $9,250 — while only $5,000 was taken up front. The $4,250 difference turns up as tax owed the following April, often to someone who has already spent the money. Anyone above the 22% bracket is in this position by construction, and it is why a cash-out taken in a high-income year is worse than the same cash-out taken in a low-income one.
The exits that are not withdrawals
Most reasons to take money out have a cheaper route. A direct rollover moves the balance trustee to trustee with nothing withheld and no tax at all. A 60-day indirect rollover does trigger the 20%, and to roll the full amount you must replace that 20% from other savings or the shortfall becomes a taxable distribution. Many plans allow a loan instead, repaid to yourself with interest. And the 10% penalty has real exceptions: the rule of 55 for anyone leaving an employer in or after the year they turn 55 and drawing from that employer's plan, total and permanent disability, certain unreimbursed medical expenses, a qualified birth or adoption, a domestic-abuse distribution, and substantially equal periodic payments under section 72(t).
The cost that dwarfs the tax
Tax and penalty are a one-time cut of about a third. The compounding is everything after. That same $25,000, left alone at 7% for 25 more years, becomes about $135,686 — so the real price of the cash-out is not the $9,250 in tax but the roughly $120,000 of retirement balance that never exists. It is also money that cannot be put back: the annual contribution limit caps what you may replace, so a large withdrawal in your forties can take a decade of deferrals to rebuild. That comparison, not the tax arithmetic, is why this page puts the rolled-over figure beside the cash in hand.
Frequently asked questions
Why three numbers instead of one?
Because the usual single figure is arithmetically wrong. The mandatory 20% is a prepayment of the federal income tax on the distribution, not a separate charge, and the plan withholds no penalty at all. Subtracting withholding, penalty and marginal tax from the gross charges the federal tax twice and makes a cash-out look about 20% worse than it is.
Why do I owe more at filing when 20% was already taken?
Because 20% rarely covers it. Add a 22% bracket, the 10% penalty and any state tax and the true cost is well past what was withheld, so the balance arrives as a bill the following April. That surprise is the most useful thing on this page.
How do I avoid the withholding entirely?
Move the money by direct rollover, trustee to trustee, and nothing is withheld. A 60-day indirect rollover does trigger the 20%, and you then have to replace that 20% from other money to roll the full amount — or the shortfall is treated as a distribution.
When does the 10% penalty not apply?
From 59½ it stops entirely. Before that, the exceptions include leaving your employer at 55 or later and drawing from that employer's plan, total and permanent disability, certain medical expenses, a qualified birth or adoption, a domestic-abuse distribution, and substantially equal periodic payments. A 401(k) loan avoids the question altogether where the plan allows one.
Is the lost growth really the biggest cost?
Usually, yes. Tax and penalty are a one-time cut; the compounding is the rest of your working life. That is why this page puts the rolled-over value next to the cash in hand rather than reporting the cash alone.