2026 401(k) withdrawal calculator

Why the check is not the final number

Two different things happen to a cash withdrawal. When the plan pays you directly, it must generally hold back 20 percent for federal income tax. Then, when you file, the whole withdrawal is added to your income and taxed at your own brackets. Those two amounts rarely match. In the starting example, a $20,000 withdrawal by a single filer under 59½ with $50,000 of other income brings $4,000 of withholding, but the real federal tax, with the 10 percent early withdrawal tax, is $4,750. The check looks like $16,000, and the amount left after filing is closer to $15,250.00. A hardship withdrawal while you still work there follows different withholding rules, so the check may be larger, but the tax at filing works the same way.

When the 10 percent tax applies

The IRS charges an additional 10 percent on the taxable part of an early distribution, which generally means one taken before age 59½. The best-known way around it is the separation rule: if you leave your employer during or after the year you turn 55, withdrawals from that employer's plan skip the additional tax. It does not cover money you have already moved to an IRA, and it does not apply if you left the job at 49 and take the money after you turn 55. Pick the second option in the calculator only if both parts are true for you.

The IRS lists other exceptions, including for disability, some medical costs, and certain public safety workers. Check its exceptions table, or ask your plan, before you assume one fits.

The move that avoids this year's tax

A direct rollover to an IRA or a new employer's plan is not a cash withdrawal, so there is no 20 percent holdback and nothing to tax this year. If you have already taken a check, you generally have 60 days to roll it over, and whatever you do not roll over counts as income.

This estimate assumes a traditional, pre-tax account and the 2026 standard deduction, with no other deductions or credits. Roth money follows different rules, and we leave out head of household because we have not confirmed all of that status's 2026 brackets. See the 2026 tax brackets behind the math.