IRA limits 2027: not published yet, and what you can still do for 2026
The 2027 IRA limit, catch-up and Roth income bands come in the same IRS notice as the 401(k) figures, and this page shows none of them until then. What it does show is how each one moves and what the 2026 deadline still allows.
Your 2027 limit
Not announced
The IRS publishes the 2027 plan and IRA limits mid-November 2026. Your 2026 figure: $7,500.
| Your age at the end of 2027 | 50 |
| 2026 limit for you | $7,500 |
| 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 IRA contribution limit has not been announced. The IRS sets it in the autumn notice on retirement plan amounts, expected mid-November 2026; the 2026 notice came on November 13, 2025. Two rules decide how far it can move. The base limit, $7,500 in 2026, is indexed in steps of $500, rounded down, so it either stays put or jumps. The age 50 catch-up, $1,100 in 2026, has been indexed since 2024 under SECURE 2.0, in steps of $100. The Roth income bands for 2027 are not published either. Nothing is lost by waiting: a contribution for 2026 can still be made until April 15, 2027, at the 2026 limit of $7,500, or $8,600 from age 50, and with the 2026 Roth bands of $153,000 to $168,000 single and $242,000 to $252,000 joint.
What is published and what is not
| Amount | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| IRA limit, traditional and Roth together | $7,500 | not announced yet |
| Catch-up from age 50 | $1,100 | not announced yet |
| Roth phase-out, single or head of household | $153,000 to $168,000 | not announced yet |
| Roth phase-out, married filing jointly | $242,000 to $252,000 | not announced yet |
| Roth phase-out, married filing separately | $0 to $10,000 | $0 to $10,000 (not indexed) |
Only one line of the table is known for 2027: the married filing separately band, which the code fixes at $0 to $10,000 and never indexes. Everything else waits for the notice. A page that shows a 2027 IRA limit now is printing its own guess, and some still show $7,000, the 2025 amount, as though it were the current one.
The $500 step of the base limit
Section 219(b)(5)(C) indexes the IRA limit to inflation, starting from the $5,000 that applied in 2008, with each result rounded down to the nearest multiple of $500. Two consequences follow. The limit never rises by an odd amount, and it can stand still for a year or two while inflation builds up below the next step. That is what happened between 2024 and 2025, when it stayed at $7,000, before moving to $7,500 for 2026.
| Year | IRA limit | Catch-up at 50 | Total at 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $6,500 | $1,000 | $7,500 |
| 2024 | $7,000 | $1,000 | $8,000 |
| 2025 | $7,000 | $1,000 | $8,000 |
| 2026 | $7,500 | $1,100 | $8,600 |
The $100 step of the catch-up
For two decades the IRA catch-up was a flat $1,000. SECURE 2.0 made it indexed for years after 2023, in multiples of $100, rounded down. The first change came for 2026, when it went to $1,100. Because the step is small, the catch-up will tend to rise more often than the base limit, by a hundred dollars at a time. The age test does not change: the catch-up applies from the year you turn 50, so someone born in 1977 can add it for the first time in 2027, on any date in the year (IRA contribution limits).
Your 2027 IRA limit, or its status
Your 2027 limit
Not announced
| Your age at the end of 2027 | 50 |
| 2026 limit for you | $7,500 |
| 2027 limit for you | to come |
| Status | expected mid-November |
The Roth bands for 2027
The phase-out ranges of section 408A(c)(3) are indexed separately, with the start of each band rounded down to a multiple of $1,000; the width of each band is set by the code ($15,000 single, $10,000 joint) and does not move. The traditional IRA deduction bands follow the same kind of rule. The 2027 Roth test will be applied to your 2027 modified AGI, which is not known until the year is over, so a contribution made early in 2027 near the top of a band carries some risk whatever the published figures turn out to be. The Roth income limit page shows how the reduced amount is computed with the bands in force.
Deduction bands for people covered at work
A traditional IRA contribution is always allowed below the limit, whatever your income, but its deduction phases out if you or your spouse are covered by a workplace plan. Those bands move with the same notice. For 2026 a covered single filer loses the deduction between $81,000 and $91,000 of modified AGI, a covered spouse on a joint return between $129,000 and $149,000, and a spouse who is not covered but is married to someone who is between $242,000 and $252,000. The 2027 values are not announced yet; the deduction page computes the deductible part with the bands in force.
The 2026 contribution is still open
An IRA contribution for a tax year can be made until the unextended filing deadline of that year's return, so contributions for 2026 are accepted until April 15, 2027. A filing extension does not extend it. Any deposit made between January 1 and April 15, 2027 must be marked for one year or the other: tell the custodian which year when you contribute, since a deposit not designated is usually treated as being for the current year.
The 2026 rules apply to a 2026 contribution even when it is made in 2027: the $7,500 limit, the $1,100 catch-up if you were 50 by December 31, 2026, and the 2026 Roth bands tested on 2026 income. A single filer aged 49 at the end of 2026 with $160,000 of MAGI can still put $4,000 in a Roth IRA for 2026 at any time before the deadline, once the year's income is known for sure. Since the income is final by then, a Roth contribution for a past year carries none of the excess risk of an early one.
What to do while waiting
If you have not yet used your 2026 room, that is the move with no unknowns left. For 2027, a monthly automatic deposit can be set at the 2026 rate and raised once the notice is out; you can catch up the difference in a single deposit later in the year or before April 2028. Couples with one earner can fund a spousal IRA for each spouse for both years. The 2027 figures for workplace plans arrive in the same notice (401(k) limits 2027), while the 2027 HSA limits are already final.