Check a 401(k) vesting schedule against the legal 3-year cliff and 6-year graded minimums
Estimates only, not financial advice. What you type stays on your device. Checked against sources on 29 Sept 2026.Employer contributions to a 401(k) or profit-sharing plan must vest at least as fast as one of two schedules: fully after 3 years of service, or 20% after 2 years rising by 20% a year to 100% after 6. Enter your plan’s own percentages for each year to see whether it meets that minimum, how much of your employer balance you own today, and when the next step comes.
Rates and rules read from the sources listed on this page (the earliest on 29 Sept 2026); they may have changed since.
The page opens on My plan's own, with a box for each year from After 1 year to After 6 years.
Type the vested percentage your plan document gives after each year of service.
Enter your Years of vesting service and the employer balance to see what you would keep today.
If a warning says the schedule is slower than the law allows, compare it with the Legal cliff and Legal graded columns under Year by year.
Vesting decides how much of your 401(k) you own if you leave your job. This calculator takes the vesting schedule in your plan, your years of service and your balances, and shows the part you keep, the part you would forfeit, and when the next step comes.
The two legal maximums. A plan can vest faster, but not slower, than one of two schedules set by section 411 of the tax code. With the 3-year cliff you own nothing until 3 years of service, then everything. With the 6-year graded schedule you own 20% after 2 years, 40% after 3, 60% after 4, 80% after 5 and 100% after 6. The IRS example: John, with 5 years of service on a 6-year graded schedule, is 80% vested.
Check your own plan's schedule. Choose "My plan's own" and enter its percentage for each year. The calculator tells you whether it meets the legal minimum and, if not, the first year it falls behind.
The rest of the article, and all 6 questions about 401(k) Vesting Calculator, are on the 401(k) Vesting Calculator page.
Vested means owned. The vested part of your 401(k) is money your employer cannot take back when you leave. Your own contributions are always fully vested; employer contributions become yours over time under the plan's vesting schedule, and whatever is not vested when you leave is forfeited back to the plan.
Cliff vesting gives nothing until a set point and then everything: the slowest legal cliff is 100% after 3 years of service. Graded vesting rises in steps: the slowest legal graded schedule gives 20% after 2 years and 20% more each year until 100% after 6 years.
Multiply your employer contribution balance by your vested percentage. With $18,000 of employer money on a 6-year graded schedule and 4 years of service, you are 60% vested and keep $10,800; $7,200 is forfeited. Your own deferrals are kept in full on top of that.
The plan document decides, but most plans credit a year of vesting service for each 12-month period in which you work at least 1,000 hours. The IRS example counts calendar years: John worked from June 2007 to August 2011 with 1,000 hours in each year and had 5 years of service.
Rates and rules change; check the source before you rely on a figure.
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