Max 401(k) contribution 2026: what to set on each paycheck
Maxing out is a division: what is left of your limit over the paychecks left in the year. The calculator does it from any pay date, with what you have already put in.
Defer this from each paycheck
$942
27.2 % of a $3,462 paycheck.
| Your 2026 limit | $24,500 |
| Already deferred | $0 |
| Left to defer | $24,500 |
| Percent to set with payroll | 27.2 % |
Worked out by Radif Partners · How we calculate · limits read on irs.gov · not personal financial advice
To max out a 401(k) in 2026 you need to defer $24,500 by your last paycheck of the year, or $32,500 if you are 50 or older on December 31 ($35,750 in the years you turn 60 to 63). Start from what is left, divide by the paychecks remaining, then turn that into the percentage payroll asks for. On a $90,000 salary paid every two weeks from January, that is $942 a paycheck, or 27.2 % of a $3,462 check. Starting in July with $6,000 already in and 13 pay dates left, it becomes $1,423, 41.1 %. After a job change the limit is shared, so the new plan only gets the rest, and any excess over the limit has to be taken out by April 15, 2027 to avoid being taxed twice.
The method in three numbers
Every maxing out plan uses the same three inputs: your limit for the year, what you have already deferred, and the number of paychecks still to come. The limit comes from your age at the end of 2026 (see the 2026 limits by age). What you have deferred appears on your latest pay stub as a year to date figure. The paychecks left are easy to miscount, so check the payroll calendar: a biweekly schedule has 26 pay dates in most years, but the first paycheck of January can pay for December work and still count for 2026, because deferrals follow the date the money is paid.
| Situation | Left to defer | Paychecks left | Per paycheck | Percent of pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| From January, salary $90,000, every two weeks | $24,500 | 26 | $942 | 27.2 % |
| From July, $6,000 already in | $18,500 | 13 | $1,423 | 41.1 % |
| New job, $14,000 deferred at the old one, age 55 | $18,500 | 12 | $1,542 | 30.8 % |
Payroll systems usually take whole percentages. Round up and the deferrals stop on their own once the limit is reached, because the plan must cut you off at the annual limit; round down and you finish a little short. The 27.2 % of the first case becomes 28 %, which reaches the limit on the last pay date or one before it. Check your plan's maximum rate: some cap the election at 50 % or 75 % of each paycheck, which matters in the July case.
Starting late in the year: what is left per paycheck?
Defer this from each paycheck
$942
| Your 2026 limit | $24,500 |
| Already deferred | $0 |
| Left to defer | $24,500 |
| Percent to set with payroll | 27.2 % |
Changing jobs in the middle of 2026
The annual limit applies to you, not to each plan, so the deferrals at your old job count against the new plan's room. A person born in 1971 turns 55 this year and has $32,500 in all. With $14,000 already deferred before leaving, only $18,500 remains for the new employer. Paid twice a month at $120,000 a year with 12 pay dates left, that is $1,542 per paycheck, 30.8 % of each. The new plan has no idea what you did before and will happily accept a full rate, so the arithmetic is on your side of the desk.
The most frequent mistake is to set the new plan at the same percentage as the old one. A person who reaches $26,000 across both jobs has gone $1,500 over. That amount is an excess deferral. You tell one of the plans by the date that plan requires, and it pays back the excess with its earnings by April 15, 2027 (Publication 525, excess deferrals). The excess is taxed as 2026 wages either way; the earnings are taxed in the year they are paid out. Miss April 15 and the excess stays in the plan, already taxed once, and is taxed again when it eventually comes out, with no basis to show for it. A Roth excess is just as awkward. Each employer applies the limit only inside its own plan, so nobody else will catch this for you.
Front-loading and the employer match true-up
Some people set a high rate early to reach the limit by summer. The risk is the match. Many plans compute the match on each paycheck: if you stop deferring in August, the match stops with you. Take a $200,000 salary, 26 paychecks and a match of 100 % up to 4 % of each check. At a 20 % rate you reach $24,500 after 16 paychecks and collect $4,923 of match, against $8,000 if the same deferrals had been spread over the whole year. The difference, $3,077, is lost unless the plan has a true-up: a contribution after year end that tops the match up to what the annual formula would have given. Whether your plan has one is written in the summary plan description; payroll or HR can confirm it in one email. If there is no true-up, spread the deferrals so the last one falls on the last pay date. The employer contribution page explains how match formulas are computed.
Your own salary and pay schedule
Defer this from each paycheck
$942
| Your 2026 limit | $24,500 |
| Already deferred | $0 |
| Left to defer | $24,500 |
| Percent to set with payroll | 27.2 % |
Catch-up and Roth while maxing out
If you turn 50 or more in 2026, your target includes the catch-up, and the extra deferral simply continues past the base limit in the same payroll election in most plans. When your 2025 wages from that employer were above $150,000, the part above $24,500 must go in as Roth, which lowers your take home pay more than a pre-tax deferral would. Payroll systems handle this by switching the source automatically once you pass the base limit; the Roth catch-up page shows the effect. Bonuses deserve a check too: if the plan applies your percentage to bonuses, a large one in March can carry you to the limit early, with the same match question as front-loading.
A short checklist for the rest of 2026
Read the year to date deferral on your last pay stub, count the pay dates left on the payroll calendar, run the calculator, round the rate up, then look at the stub again after the next two paychecks to be sure the change took. If you changed jobs, add the old employer's figure from its final stub, or from box 12 of the W-2 next January with code D for a 401(k) or E for a 403(b). The IRS sets the annual amounts in Notice 2025-67.