2026 contribution limits, worked out for your age and income

The IRS publishes one headline number per account. Type your birth year, pay and income: the calculator gives the limit that actually applies to you, account by account.

Every amount read on irs.gov · How each limit is computed · Who publishes this

Your own 2026 limits add up to

$46,500

age 50 catch-up at 56 by December 31.

401(k) deferral with catch-up	$32,500
IRA, traditional and Roth together	$8,600
Roth IRA: reduced amount	$4,590
Traditional IRA: not deductible	$0
HSA, catch-up included	$5,400

Total = deferral + IRA + HSA. A direct Roth IRA contribution uses the same $8,600: here $4,590. Employer money comes on top, up to $72,000 (section 415(c)).

How this is computed

For 2026 the IRS set the 401(k), 403(b) and governmental 457(b) deferral limit at $24,500, the IRA limit at $7,500 and the HSA limit at $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for a family (Notice 2025-67 and Rev. Proc. 2025-19). Those are starting points. Your own limit moves with three facts. Your age on December 31: from 50 a catch-up of $8,000 is added to a 401(k), and in the year you turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 it becomes $11,250. Your income: a Roth IRA contribution shrinks inside a $153,000 to $168,000 band of modified AGI for a single filer and disappears above it. Your wages last year: above $150,000 of 2025 FICA wages from the same employer, the catch-up has to go in as Roth. Someone born in 1970 with $120,000 of pay and $160,000 of MAGI can defer $32,500 and put $4,590 in a Roth IRA, not the full $8,600.

Read the full answer

The ledger: 2025, 2026 and 2027 side by side

Limit	2025	2026	2027
401(k), 403(b), 457(b) deferral	$23,500	$24,500	due mid-November
Catch-up, age 50 and over	$7,500	$8,000	due mid-November
Catch-up, the years you turn 60 to 63	$11,250	$11,250	due mid-November
Total additions, all sources (415(c))	$70,000	$72,000	due mid-November
IRA, traditional and Roth together	$7,000	$7,500	due mid-November
IRA catch-up, age 50 and over	$1,000	$1,100	due mid-November
Roth IRA phase-out, single	$150,000 to $165,000	$153,000 to $168,000	due mid-November
Roth IRA phase-out, joint	$236,000 to $246,000	$242,000 to $252,000	due mid-November
SIMPLE IRA deferral	$16,500	$17,000	due mid-November
HSA, self-only coverage	$4,300	$4,400	$4,500
HSA, family coverage	$8,550	$8,750	$9,000
Health FSA salary reduction	$3,300	$3,400	due autumn
Dependent care FSA	$5,000	$7,500	$7,500

2026 amounts from Notice 2025-67, Rev. Proc. 2025-19, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 and Publication 15-B; 2025 amounts as printed in Notice 2025-67; 2027 HSA amounts from Rev. Proc. 2026-24. Read on irs.gov, October 19, 2026.

Why the headline limit is rarely your limit

Most pages that rank for these numbers copy the IRS news release and stop. That is fine if you are 40, earn a salary well under the Roth range and have one 401(k). Everyone else has to apply a rule the headline does not show, and the rules are where people over-contribute, lose a deduction or pay a penalty they did not see coming.

The age test is the calendar year, not your birthday. You can make catch-up contributions for all of 2026 if you are 50 or older on December 31, 2026, even in January. The age 60 to 63 catch-up works the same way: it covers the four calendar years in which you turn 60, 61, 62 and 63, then drops back to $8,000 the year you turn 64. Someone born in 1963 gets $11,250 in 2026; someone born in 1962, who turns 64, gets $8,000 (which years are yours).

The Roth IRA limit is a slope, not a cliff. Inside the phase-out band, Publication 590-A Worksheet 2-2 reduces the $7,500 in proportion to how far your income has entered the band, rounds the result up to the next $10 and never leaves less than $200 (Publication 590-A). Bank and broker pages say the contribution is "reduced" and send you to irs.gov; the Roth IRA calculator does the worksheet.

High earners lose the pre-tax catch-up. Starting in 2026, if your 2025 FICA wages from the employer that sponsors the plan were above $150,000, any catch-up you make there must be designated Roth (Notice 2025-67, final regulations). Someone born in 1964 earning $200,000 can defer $35,750 in 2026, of which $11,250 goes in after tax (Roth catch-up check).

Distributions have their own clock. Required minimum distributions start at 73 for people born from 1951 to 1959 and at 75 for those born in 1960 or later. At 75 the Uniform Lifetime Table divides the prior year-end balance by 24.6: $500,000 means $20,325 to take out (RMD calculator). The penalty for a shortfall is 25 % of the amount missed, 10 % if you fix it in time, not the 50 % some older pages still print.

One page per limit

401(k) and work plans

401(k) contribution limits · Your own deferral limit for 2026, by birth year and pay
Max out a 401(k) · The amount and percentage per paycheck that reach the 2026 limit
Catch-up contributions · Every 2026 catch-up amount by plan, and your first year
Age 60 to 63 catch-up · Which birth years get the higher catch-up in 2026, and for how long
Roth catch-up rule · Who must make catch-ups as Roth from 2026, tested on your 2025 W-2
Roth 401(k) limits · How Roth and pre-tax deferrals share one 2026 limit
Employer contribution limit · The 415(c) total for you and your employer together, and the room left
Solo 401(k) limits · Employee deferral plus 20 % of net earnings, from your Schedule C profit
403(b) limits · Teachers, hospitals and nonprofits: the deferral, catch-ups and the 15-year rule
457(b) limits · A separate limit that stacks on a 403(b) or 401(k): double deferral for public employees
SIMPLE IRA limits · The two SIMPLE limits, three catch-ups and the employer 3 % or 2 %
SEP IRA limits · 25 % of pay, 20 % of net earnings for the owner, up to the dollar cap

IRA and Roth IRA

IRA contribution limits · One cap for traditional and Roth IRAs, checked against your pay
Roth IRA income limits · The reduced amount inside the phase-out, worked out to the dollar
Roth IRA, married filing jointly · The joint band, each spouse’s own limit and the separate-return trap
Traditional IRA deduction · How much of a traditional IRA contribution you can deduct with a workplace plan
Spousal IRA · Two IRAs on one paycheck: the joint compensation test
IRA vs 401(k) limits · Two separate limits, how they add up by age, and where they interact

HSA and FSA

HSA contribution limits · Self-only and family limits, month by month, with employer money
Health FSA limits · The salary reduction cap, the carryover and the grace period
Dependent care FSA · The new household cap, the earned income test and the credit

RMDs

RMD calculator · Your 2026 required minimum distribution and the next six years
RMD table (Uniform Lifetime) · The full Uniform Lifetime Table, 72 to 120, and your factor
RMD age by birth year · 73 or 75: your first RMD year and its April 1 deadline
Joint life expectancy table · Table II for a sole beneficiary spouse more than 10 years younger
Inherited IRA RMD · 10-year rule or life expectancy, and the yearly RMD from 2025
Missed RMD penalty · 25 % of the shortfall, 10 % once corrected, or a waiver
First RMD deadline · April 1 of the next year, and the cost of two RMDs in one year
Qualified charitable distribution · Give up to $111,000 from an IRA, counted toward the RMD, untaxed
RMD with several accounts · Which RMDs can be combined, and which must come from each plan

2027 and past years

401(k) limits 2027 · Not announced yet: when the IRS publishes it and what is already settled
IRA limits 2027 · Not announced yet: how the IRA limit is indexed and what to do before April 15
HSA limits 2027 · Final 2027 HSA and HDHP amounts, compared with 2026
401(k) limits by year · The IRS limits from 2023 to 2026 side by side, with each yearly change

Rules that change the number

Two plans at work: one limit or two?

The $24,500 deferral limit follows the person, not the plan: a 401(k) at one job and a 403(b) at another share it. The exception is a governmental 457(b), which has its own $24,500 limit, so a teacher or a city employee with both a 403(b) and a 457(b) can defer twice (403(b) plus 457(b)). The total additions limit of $72,000, on the other hand, applies plan by plan for unrelated employers, which matters to someone with a side business and a solo 401(k).

IRA money and 401(k) money do not compete

Deferring the maximum to a 401(k) does not reduce what you can put in an IRA. What a workplace plan changes is the deduction for a traditional IRA: covered by a plan, a single filer loses it gradually between $81,000 and $91,000 of modified AGI in 2026 (deduction calculator). Above that, the contribution is still allowed; it is simply not deductible.

HSA limits are monthly

An HSA limit is earned month by month: each month you are covered by a high deductible health plan on the first day counts for one twelfth of $4,400 or $8,750, and employer contributions count toward the same cap. From the year you turn 55 you add $1,000, which is not indexed. Medicare enrollment stops new contributions from the month it starts (HSA calculator).

Deadlines that differ by account

Payroll deferrals to a 401(k), 403(b), 457(b) or SIMPLE IRA must come out of pay received by December 31. IRA and HSA contributions for 2026 can be made until the filing deadline in April 2027. A first RMD can wait until April 1 of the year after you reach the applicable age, at the price of two distributions on one return (first RMD timing).

Questions people ask about this limit

What is the maximum I can put in a 401(k) for 2026 if I am 56?

$32,500: the $24,500 limit plus the $8,000 catch-up, since you are over 50 on December 31, 2026. If your 2025 FICA wages from that employer were above $150,000, the $8,000 has to be Roth. Employer contributions are on top, within $72,000 in all.

Can I max out a 401(k) and a Roth IRA in the same year?

Yes. The $24,500 401(k) limit and the $7,500 IRA limit are separate. The Roth IRA has an income test of its own: in 2026 the amount falls between $153,000 and $168,000 of modified AGI for a single filer and between $242,000 and $252,000 on a joint return.

Are the 2027 contribution limits out yet?

Only for HSAs: $4,500 self-only and $9,000 family, set by Rev. Proc. 2026-24. The 401(k), IRA, Roth phase-out and catch-up amounts for 2027 come in an IRS notice expected in mid-November 2026. This site adds them that day; until then it shows no estimate as if it were official.

Do employer matching contributions count toward the 401(k) limit?

Not toward the $24,500 employee limit. They count toward the total additions limit of section 415(c), $72,000 in 2026 or 100 % of pay if lower, together with your own deferrals (catch-up apart), profit sharing and any after-tax money you add.

Which table do I use for my RMD?

The Uniform Lifetime Table, unless your spouse is the sole beneficiary of the account for the whole year and is more than 10 years younger than you. In that case the Joint and Last Survivor Table applies and gives a smaller distribution. Both tables are in Publication 590-B and in 26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-9.

Is the HSA catch-up $1,000 or does it change with inflation?

It is $1,000 and is not indexed: the same amount applies in 2026 and in 2027. You can add it from the year you turn 55 until you enroll in Medicare. If both spouses are 55 or over, each adds it to his or her own HSA; a couple cannot put both catch-ups in one account.

IRS texts behind this page

Worked out by Radif Partners

Independent publisher of contribution limit and RMD calculators built on the yearly IRS cost-of-living notices

Limits updated on October 19, 2026 · Editorial policy · Contact

Results apply the 2026 IRS limits to the figures you type. Your plan document, your payroll and your tax return decide what you can actually contribute or must withdraw; a plan administrator or tax professional can confirm it. It is general information, not financial advice or tax advice for your situation, and we receive nothing from any plan, broker or adviser.

Limits for 2026, last updated on October 19, 2026