See exactly what your 457(b) will be worth the day you retire.

Yes — and this is the single biggest advantage of a governmental 457(b). Once you separate from service, withdrawals are not subject to the 10% early-withdrawal penalty, at any age. You still owe ordinary income tax on pre-tax money, but a 55-year-old retiree can tap a 457(b) freely while a 401(k) or 403(b) would penalize them. If you roll your 457(b) into an IRA, you give this up.

No. The 457(b) limit is entirely separate from the 402(g) limit that a 403(b) and 401(k) share. A teacher with both plans can defer $24,500 into each in 2026 — $49,000 total, before catch-ups. This is one of the most under-used benefits in public-sector employment.

You cannot use both the age-50 catch-up and the 3-year pre-retirement catch-up in the same year, so use whichever is larger. The 3-year catch-up is usually bigger, but it is limited to the amount you under-contributed in prior years — if you have always maxed out, you have no unused room and it is worth nothing. Your plan administrator has to calculate your actual figure.

The honest answer turns on one question: will your tax rate be higher now or in retirement? Pre-tax wins if you expect to drop into a lower bracket after you stop working. Roth wins if you expect the reverse, and it is often the better call early in a career or if you have a large pension that will already fill the lower brackets. Public employees with a strong defined-benefit pension frequently retire in the same bracket they worked in, which tilts the case toward Roth more than most people assume.

In a governmental 457(b), yes. Assets are held in trust for participants, the same protection a 401(k) has. Non-governmental 457(b) plans — offered by some hospitals and nonprofits — are different: those assets remain the employer's property and are exposed to its creditors. This calculator assumes a governmental plan.

The mechanics are right: monthly compounding, salary growth, per-age contribution limits that index with inflation, and correct catch-up rules. What it cannot know is the future. A steady 7% return is a modeling convenience, not a forecast — real sequences of returns vary wildly, and the year you retire matters enormously. Treat the output as a well-built estimate, not a promise, and check anything consequential with your plan administrator or a fiduciary advisor.