401(k) limits 2027: not announced yet, here is what is known
The IRS has not yet published the 2027 401(k) limits, and this page does not guess them. It explains when they come, how they are computed, and which 2027 facts are already settled.
Your 2027 limit
Not announced
The IRS publishes the 2027 plan and IRA limits mid-November 2026. Your 2026 figure: $35,750.
| Your age at the end of 2027 | 61 |
| 2026 limit for you | $35,750 |
| 2027 limit for you | to come |
| Status | expected mid-November |
Worked out by Radif Partners · How we calculate · limits read on irs.gov · not personal financial advice
The 2027 limits for 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b) plans and the Thrift Savings Plan are not announced yet. The IRS publishes them each autumn in a notice, expected mid-November 2026; the 2026 figures came out on November 13, 2025, in Notice 2025-67, with a deferral limit of $24,500. Until then this site shows no 2027 amount, because any number would be a projection, and projections for this limit regularly miss by $500 because of the way the IRS rounds. Some things about 2027 are already settled: the age 60 to 63 catch-up applies to people born from 1964 to 1967, the Roth catch-up test will look at 2026 FICA wages from the employer, and the 2027 HSA limits are final at $4,500 self-only and $9,000 family. Meanwhile, the 2026 limit still applies to every paycheck dated in 2026.
Where the 2027 figures stand today
| Limit | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Elective deferral (401(k), 403(b), TSP) | $24,500 | not announced yet |
| Governmental 457(b) | $24,500 | not announced yet |
| Catch-up from age 50 | $8,000 | not announced yet |
| Catch-up at 60 to 63 | $11,250 | not announced yet |
| Total additions, section 415(c) | $72,000 | not announced yet |
| Compensation cap, section 401(a)(17) | $360,000 | not announced yet |
| Roth catch-up wage threshold | $150,000 | not announced yet |
| HSA, self-only and family | $4,400 / $8,750 | $4,500 / $9,000 |
Each plan cell in the 2027 column will be filled on the day the IRS releases its notice, with the figure read on irs.gov. Until then, the honest entry is that the number does not exist yet. Pages that print a "2027 401(k) limit" today are showing their own estimate, and some of them still show the 2025 figure of $23,500 as if it were current.
When the IRS announces the limits
The cost-of-living adjustments of section 415(d) depend on the consumer price index up to the quarter ending September 30. The September index is published in October, so the IRS can only compute the next year's amounts after that, and it usually releases them in late October or in November. For 2026 the notice was dated November 13, 2025 (Notice 2025-67), with a news release the same day (IR-2025-111). The IRS table of COLA increases is updated at the same time. This page will show the 2027 figures from the day they are published.
How indexing and rounding work
Each limit starts from a base amount written in the code and grows with inflation, but it does not rise smoothly. The deferral limit is rounded down to a multiple of $500, as is the age 50 catch-up. The section 415(c) cap moves in $1,000 steps and the compensation cap in $5,000 steps, also rounded down. Rounding down means a year of moderate inflation can leave a limit unchanged, and the gap is caught up later in a single jump.
| Year | Deferral | Catch-up at 50 | 415(c) cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $22,500 | $7,500 | $66,000 |
| 2024 | $23,000 | $7,500 | $69,000 |
| 2025 | $23,500 | $7,500 | $70,000 |
| 2026 | $24,500 | $8,000 | $72,000 |
The table shows the pattern. The deferral rose by $500, then $500, then $1,000; the age 50 catch-up stayed at $7,500 for three years before moving to $8,000. The age 60 to 63 amount follows its own rule: it was set at 150 % of the regular catch-up for 2025 and is indexed after that, which is why it stayed at $11,250 for 2026. This site does not turn this pattern into a forecast: a forecast that turns out $500 too high would lead someone to over-defer and face an excess deferral to correct.
Your 2027 deferral, or its status, by birth year
Your 2027 limit
Not announced
| Your age at the end of 2027 | 62 |
| 2026 limit for you | $35,750 |
| 2027 limit for you | to come |
| Status | expected mid-November |
What is already settled for 2027
The age rules do not wait for the notice. In 2027, the larger catch-up applies to people who turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 that year, so to those born from 1964 to 1967. Someone born in 1963 used it in 2026, turns 64 in 2027 and goes back to the standard age 50 amount, a drop that payroll elections set as a fixed dollar amount will not make on their own. Someone born in 1967 enters the group in 2027, and someone born in 1977 turns 50 and gets the regular catch-up for the first time (age 60 to 63 catch-up).
The Roth catch-up test for 2027 will use your 2026 FICA wages from the employer sponsoring the plan, box 3 of the W-2 you receive in early 2027. Its threshold for that test is also part of the coming notice. The HSA amounts are final already: $4,500 for self-only coverage and $9,000 for family coverage, under Rev. Proc. 2026-24, with the $1,000 catch-up at 55 unchanged (HSA limits 2027).
Who the coming notice concerns
The autumn notice is not only about 401(k) plans. The same document sets the deferral limit for 403(b) plans, the separate limit of governmental 457(b) plans, the Thrift Savings Plan used by federal employees and the military, and the lower limits of SIMPLE IRAs and SIMPLE 401(k)s. It also fixes the amounts employers test against: the highly compensated employee threshold, $160,000 for 2026, the key employee threshold for top-heavy testing, and the minimum pay that brings a worker into a SEP. Payroll providers load the new values in December, so the first paycheck of January is usually the first one computed under them. For the IRA side of the same release, see the IRA limits 2027 page.
What to do in the meantime
Finish 2026 first: the $24,500 limit applies to deferrals taken from paychecks dated in 2026, so a December bonus can still help you reach it. If your election is a percentage of pay, it simply carries into 2027 and will put more in if your salary rises; if it is a dollar amount, plan to revise it once the notice is out. Many plans let you change the election online in a few minutes, and the change usually takes effect within one or two payroll cycles, so a January update is enough. If you turn 64 in 2027, lower a fixed catch-up election at the turn of the year. For year-by-year figures see the history page, and for the current year the 2026 401(k) limits.