Download the 401(k) contribution calculation spreadsheet by right clicking on this link and choose “Save target as…” or “Save link as…” from the menu items.

Description: A simple MS Excel template (Office 2003) you can use to calculate the difference in savings between contributing to a 401(k) plan versus putting the same amount of after-tax dollars into an account with the same return over 1 and 5 years.

Instructions on how to use the little spreadsheet are included. Feel free to tell me of any corrections or feedback you’d like to see. (I’d have included a 10-year savings period but the calculation in excel is a bit of a pain to put in since it’s a geometric series.)

Popularity: 2% [?]