457(b) Calculator
Both plans, both catch-up routes, and the money coming out
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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
- Long-range scenario, not a guarantee. Small changes in returns, inflation, fees, taxes, and withdrawal timing can materially change the result.
- 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 what you plan to defer into the 457(b) and, separately, into a 403(b) or 401(k) with the same employer. The two are asked separately because they are two independent ceilings, not one shared pot.
- 02
Enter your age. From 50 the age catch-up adds $8,000, replaced by $11,250 for ages 60 through 63.
- 03
Enter the years until the year you reach your plan's normal retirement age. The special catch-up window is the three years BEFORE that year — one, two or three years to go — and the normal-retirement year itself is outside it.
- 04
Enter any deferral room you left unused in earlier years of participation. That is what the special catch-up runs on: with no unused room it adds nothing at all.
- 05
For the withdrawal half, split the balance into money contributed here and money rolled in from a 401(k), 403(b) or IRA, and enter the age you would take it. Only the rolled-in half can ever be penalised.
Formula
457(b) age route = $24,500 + the age catch-up ($8,000 from 50, or $11,250 at 60-63). Special route = the lesser of twice the annual limit ($49,000) and $24,500 + your unused prior-year limits, available only in the three years before your normal-retirement year. Your maximum is the GREATER of the two, never the sum. Combined ceiling = that plus a separate $24,500 (+ catch-up) in a 403(b) or 401(k). Early-distribution tax = 10% of the rolled-in balance only, and only below 59½.
Example
A 52-year-old county employee with both plans can defer $24,500 + $8,000 = $32,500 into the 457(b) and the same $32,500 into the 403(b): $65,000 in total. At 59, three years from a plan normal retirement age of 62 and with $60,000 of unused room from lean early years, the special route becomes the lesser of $49,000 and $24,500 + $60,000, so $49,000 — against an age route of $32,500. He takes $49,000, not $81,500. If he then separates at 54 and withdraws $40,000 contributed here plus $30,000 rolled in from an old 401(k), the penalty is $3,000: 10% of the rolled-in money and nothing on the rest.
Definitions
- Governmental 457(b)
- A deferred compensation plan of a state, county, city, school district, public university or public hospital. Assets are held in trust for participants and can be rolled over.
- Nongovernmental 457(b)
- The tax-exempt employer's version. An unfunded promise subject to the employer's creditors, with no age-50 catch-up and no rollover.
- Normal retirement age
- Defined by the plan document, not by statute. It is what sets the three-year window for the special catch-up, which is why it has to be typed in.
- Underutilized limitation
- Deferral room you were eligible for in earlier years of participation and did not use. It is what the special catch-up runs on; past age-50 catch-ups do not count as having used it.
- Section 4974(c)
- The list of five plan types the 10% early-distribution tax reaches. A 457(b) is absent from it, which is the whole basis of the no-penalty rule.
Good to know
A limit that stacks, which almost nobody uses
The single most valuable fact about a governmental 457(b) is that its deferral limit does not share with anything. A 457(b) deferral is not an elective deferral within section 402(g)(3), so it never consumes the $24,500 that a 403(b) or 401(k) runs on. A public-school teacher, a public-university administrator, a county nurse or a city engineer offered both plans can put $24,500 into each — $49,000 for 2026 before any catch-up, $65,000 with the age-50 catch-up in both, $71,500 inside the 60-63 band. There was once a coordination rule that forced 457 deferrals to be offset by 401(k) and 403(b) deferrals, and it is the reason a great many people still believe the limits are shared. EGTRRA repealed it for tax years beginning after 2001. Anyone still applying it is applying a rule that has been dead for a quarter of a century, and the cost of that belief compounds for a whole career.
No penalty, and not because of an exception
Money contributed to a governmental 457(b) carries no 10% early-distribution tax at any age once you have separated from service. Not at 55, not at 50, not at 45. This is worth understanding structurally rather than as a rule to memorise, because the structure is what tells you where it stops. Section 72(t) imposes the additional tax only on distributions from a 'qualified retirement plan as defined in section 4974(c)', and section 4974(c) enumerates exactly five things: a 401(a) plan, a 403(a) annuity plan, a 403(b) arrangement, an IRA and an individual retirement annuity. A 457(b) is not among them, so 72(t) never reaches it. There is no age test to satisfy and no separation-timing condition to meet, unlike the rule of 55. What that makes a 457(b) is the cheapest bridge available between an early retirement and 59½ — better on this axis than any 401(k), any 403(b) and any IRA. The carve-back is section 72(t)(9): money you rolled INTO the 457(b) from a plan that is on the 4974(c) list keeps its own exposure, which is why 'consolidate the old 401(k) into the 457(b) and the penalty problem disappears' is bad advice specifically foreclosed by statute.
The final-three-years catch-up, and the sum that is never right
For one or more of the last three taxable years ending before the year you attain your plan's normal retirement age, the ceiling becomes the lesser of twice the annual limit — $49,000 for 2026 — and this year's limit plus every dollar of limit you left unused in earlier years of participation. Two things go wrong with this constantly. The first is the reading of $49,000: it is a ceiling on the TOTAL deferral for the year, so the most the provision ever adds above the ordinary $24,500 is another $24,500, not $49,000. The second is worse. Section 414(v)(6)(C) switches the age-50 and 60-63 catch-ups off entirely for any year the special catch-up applies, so the two routes are alternatives and are never added. $49,000 plus $8,000 is not a number this statute produces, and a participant who defers it has an excess deferral to unwind. The provision is also worth nothing to a consistent maximum saver: with no unused prior-year limits it lifts the ceiling to this year's limit plus nothing. It was written for the person who could not afford to defer early on, not for the person who always could.
Governmental or not, and what penalty-free does not mean
Two limits on all of the above. First, everything here is a governmental 457(b) — a state, county, city, school district, public university or public hospital. A nongovernmental 457(b) at a tax-exempt employer is a different instrument wearing the same section number: an unfunded promise whose assets remain the employer's and are reachable by the employer's creditors, with no age-50 catch-up at all and no ability to roll the balance anywhere. If the employer fails, you are a general creditor of it. Second, penalty-free is not the same as accessible. Section 457(d)(1)(A) lets a governmental plan pay out only on severance from employment, in the calendar year you reach 59½ while still working, on an unforeseeable emergency, or as a small-account cashout. The unforeseeable-emergency test is genuinely narrow — a foreseeable cost such as a college bill or a house purchase does not meet it — so for anyone still employed, separation is the real door. And a plan is free to restrict its distribution options further than the statute does, which is a question for the plan document rather than the code.
Frequently asked questions
Can I contribute to a 457(b) and a 403(b) or 401(k) in the same year?
Yes, and to the full amount in each. A 457(b) deferral is not an elective deferral under section 402(g)(3), so it never touches the other plan's limit — $24,500 into each for 2026, $49,000 in total, or $65,000 if both plans allow the $8,000 age catch-up. The rule that used to make one offset the other was repealed by EGTRRA for tax years beginning after 2001.
Is there really no 10% penalty on a 457(b)?
On money contributed to a governmental 457(b), correct, at any age. It is not an age exception you have to qualify for. Section 72(t) imposes the 10% only on the five plan types listed in section 4974(c) — a 401(a) plan, a 403(a) annuity, a 403(b), an IRA and an individual retirement annuity — and a 457(b) is simply not on that list. Separate at 45, take a distribution, owe ordinary income tax and nothing else.
What about money I rolled into the 457(b) from an old 401(k)?
That keeps its exposure. Section 72(t)(9) treats a distribution attributable to money transferred in from a qualified plan as though it came from that plan, so the 10% applies before 59½ unless another exception fits. Rolling an old 401(k) into a 457(b) specifically to escape the penalty is the manoeuvre that provision was written to foreclose, and many plans track rolled-in money as a separate source for exactly this reason.
How does the final-three-years catch-up work?
For one or more of the last three taxable years ending before the year you reach your plan's normal retirement age, the ceiling becomes the lesser of twice the annual limit — $49,000 for 2026 — and this year's limit plus every dollar of limit you left unused in earlier years. Note what $49,000 is: a ceiling on your TOTAL deferral, so the most it ever adds above the ordinary $24,500 is another $24,500.
Can I use the age-50 catch-up and the special catch-up together?
No — and this is the mistake that produces real excess deferrals. Section 414(v)(6)(C) switches the age-50 and 60-63 catch-ups off entirely for any year the special catch-up applies. You take whichever route is larger, never the sum. $49,000 plus $8,000 is not a number the statute produces.
Is a nonprofit 457(b) the same thing?
No, and the differences are serious. A nongovernmental 457(b) at a tax-exempt employer is an unfunded promise: the assets stay on the employer's books and are reachable by the employer's creditors, so an employer failure makes you a general creditor. There is no age-50 catch-up at all, the balance can never be rolled to an IRA or another plan, and it pays out on the schedule the plan fixes rather than when you choose.
So can I just take the money whenever I want?
No — penalty-free is not the same as accessible. Section 457(d)(1)(A) lets a governmental plan pay out only on severance from employment, in the calendar year you reach 59½ while still working, on an unforeseeable emergency, or as a small-account cashout. Separation is the ordinary door before 59½, and the unforeseeable-emergency test is narrow: a foreseeable cost such as a college bill or a house purchase does not meet it.