State Auto-IRA Calculator

State-mandated auto-IRA programs automatically enroll workers whose employers don't offer a retirement plan, deducting a set percentage of each paycheck into an individual retirement account. Pick your state's program and enter your salary, and the calculator shows what the default payroll deduction adds up to each month and each year, plus a rough 10-year figure. Treat the output as a planning estimate rather than a promise of any particular outcome.

The calculator applies a 5% deduction for every program in its list. CalSavers, for example, starts savers at 5% of gross pay and raises the rate by 1% a year up to 8% unless they choose otherwise; check your own program's default and escalation, because the calculator keeps the rate at 5%. The annual contribution is salary × 5%, and the monthly figure is that divided by 12. The 10-year figure is ten years of that same contribution plus a flat 35% allowance for investment growth: it does not compound a return you choose, and it assumes your salary stays the same. It also does not cap the result at the 2026 IRA limit of $7,500 ($8,600 at 50 and over), which a 5% deduction passes once pay tops $150,000.

Real-world results will drift from any projection, because markets rise and fall and average returns are never guaranteed. The figures are most useful for seeing how steady, modest deposits compound across decades into a far larger sum than the contributions alone. Reviewing your beneficiary designations periodically is a sensible habit alongside this kind of planning.