2026 Retirement Contribution Limits: 401(k) and IRA

The IRS adjusts retirement contribution limits annually for cost of living. Here is where 2026 landed, with the 2025 figures alongside for comparison.

401(k), 403(b), governmental 457 and the federal TSP

• Employee elective deferral limit: $24,500 for 2026, up from $23,500 in 2025
• Catch-up contribution, age 50 and over: $8,000, up from $7,500
• Enhanced catch-up, ages 60 to 63: $11,250, unchanged from 2025

The standard and catch-up limits stack. Someone aged 50 or over can therefore contribute up to $32,500 in 2026.

The enhanced band for ages 60 to 63 comes from the SECURE 2.0 Act. It is worth knowing about because it is easy to miss - it applies only in that four-year window, and it replaces rather than adds to the ordinary $8,000 catch-up.

Individual Retirement Accounts

• IRA contribution limit: $7,500 for 2026, up from $7,000 in 2025
• IRA catch-up, age 50 and over: $1,100, up from $1,000

The IRA catch-up amount was fixed at $1,000 for many years. SECURE 2.0 made it subject to annual cost-of-living adjustment, which is why it has begun moving.

Note that the IRA limit is the total across all your IRAs combined, not per account.

SIMPLE 401(k) plans

• Elective deferral limit: $17,000
• Catch-up, age 50 and over: $4,000
• Enhanced catch-up, ages 60 to 63: $5,250

What the limits do not tell you

Employer contributions are separate. Your employer's match does not count against your elective deferral limit. It falls under a separate, higher overall limit on total additions to the account.

Income limits are a different question. The contribution limits above are caps on what you may put in. Whether you may deduct a traditional IRA contribution, or contribute to a Roth IRA at all, depends on income thresholds that are adjusted separately each year. Check those against your own income before assuming the full amount is available to you.

Limits are per person, not per household. A married couple who both have earned income each have their own allowance.

The practical point

If your employer matches contributions, the match is the highest-return element of any of this - typically an immediate 50% or 100% on the matched portion, which no market return reliably offers. Contributing at least enough to capture the full match comes before almost every other financial decision.

Beyond that, contributing more is a question of what else the money is competing with. Clearing high-interest debt first is usually the stronger move: a 24% credit card APR paid down is a guaranteed 24% return, and a retirement account is not.

You can model what different contribution levels compound to over your remaining working life with our investment calculator.

Check before you act

These figures apply to the 2026 tax year and come from the IRS announcement. Limits change annually, and the rules on catch-up contributions have been actively amended in recent years. Verify against the IRS source below - linked directly - before making contribution decisions, and speak to a tax professional about your own position.

Sources

• IRS: 401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA limit increases to $7,500
• IRS: Retirement topics - 401(k) and profit-sharing plan contribution limits
• IRS: Retirement topics - catch-up contributions

Figures apply to the 2026 tax year, confirmed against IRS guidance in August 2026. This is general information, not tax advice.