Dollar Almanac

Guides

Every calculator here answers one question with a number. These explain the rule behind it, and where people get caught.

  • Who the rule reaches, which wage figure decides it, and why changing jobs resets the test. The four details that produce confident wrong answers.

  • The extra amount anyone 50 or over may contribute, how it sits on top of the ordinary limit, and why the figure depends on your plan type and your age.

  • The provision that pays back employer match you missed by contributing unevenly, and how to tell whether your plan has one.

  • Why hitting the annual limit early can cost you employer match, what it is worth, and the cases where doing it anyway is defensible.

  • Four calendar years with a higher catch-up limit, both edges of the window, and what it is worth across the whole span.

  • The Roth catch-up rule removes the pre-tax option. If your plan has no Roth option either, the contribution cannot be made at all.

  • Your employer withheld exactly what the regulations require, and you still owe money at filing. This explains why.

  • What your employer sells on vest day, what it is meant to cover, and why the proceeds routinely miss the real tax bill.

  • Extra withholding, a quarterly estimated payment, or paying at filing. What each one does about a vest that was under-withheld.