For 2026 you may put up to $7,500 into your Roth and traditional IRAs combined, plus a $1,100 catch-up contribution if you are 50 or older by year-end. Whether you can use a Roth for any of it depends on your modified adjusted gross income: single filers phase out between $153,000 and $168,000, and married couples filing jointly between $242,000 and $252,000. A Roth IRA is an individual retirement account funded with money you have already paid tax on, so qualified withdrawals later come out tax-free. The rules that trip people up are not the headline number but the edges — the income phase-outs, the requirement that you have earned income, the five-year clock, and the penalty for putting in too much.
Table of Contents
- The 2026 dollar limits, and who gets the catch-up
- What counts as "payment" — the earned income rule
- Income phase-outs, including the trap for separate filers
- Age is not a barrier
- Over-contributing, and how to fix it before it costs you
- The five-year clock and the missing RMD
- Frequently Asked Questions
The 2026 dollar limits, and who gets the catch-up
The IRS announced in Notice 2025-67 on November 13, 2025 that the IRA contribution limit rises to $7,500 for 2026, up from $7,000 in 2025. That figure is the total across every IRA you own. Splitting $4,000 into a Roth and $3,500 into a traditional IRA is fine; contributing $7,500 to each is not. Savers aged 50 and over get an extra $1,100 in 2026, up from $1,000.
That catch-up amount is indexed for inflation for the first time, which means it will now drift upward with the main limit instead of sitting frozen at $1,000 as it did for years. A 52-year-old with enough income and a low enough MAGI can therefore contribute $8,600 for 2026. The catch-up applies for the whole tax year in which you turn 50. You do not have to wait until your birthday to make the contribution.
What counts as "payment" — the earned income rule
A Roth contribution is capped at the lesser of the dollar limit or your taxable compensation for the year, according to the IRS guidance on IRA contribution limits. Someone who earned $4,200 from a part-time job can contribute $4,200, not $7,500. Someone who earned nothing from work cannot contribute at all on their own record. Investment income does not qualify.
Dividends, interest, rental profit and capital gains are not compensation, and rollover amounts do not count either. This is the rule that blocks retirees living on a portfolio and pension income from continuing to fund a Roth, even when they have plenty of cash. The spousal IRA is the workaround for couples. A working spouse can fund an account for a non-working spouse, with combined contributions to both IRAs limited to joint taxable compensation or twice the annual limit — $15,000 for 2026, before catch-ups. It does not matter which spouse earned the money.
Income phase-outs, including the trap for separate filers
Three sets of MAGI ranges apply in 2026, and they are not interchangeable: That last band deserves attention. It is fixed in statute and never gets a cost-of-living adjustment, so it does not move with the other numbers.
A separate filer earning $12,000 who lived with their spouse during the year is shut out of direct Roth contributions entirely. Being inside a phase-out range does not mean you are excluded — it means your maximum is reduced proportionally. A single filer at $160,500, halfway through the range, can contribute roughly half the applicable limit.
- Single or head of household: full contribution below $153,000, partial from $153,000 to $168,000, none above.
- Married filing jointly: full below $242,000, partial from $242,000 to $252,000, none above.
- Married filing separately, if you lived with your spouse at any point in the year: the range runs from $0 to $10,000.
Age is not a barrier
There is no upper age limit on Roth contributions. The IRS states plainly that you may contribute at any age as long as you, or a spouse filing jointly, have taxable compensation and your MAGI falls under the limits, and that contributions after age 70½ are expressly allowed. This matters for people working past traditional retirement age.
A 74-year-old consultant billing $30,000 a year can contribute the full $8,600 for 2026, provided their income is within range. The only thing that stops them is having no earned income, not their birthday. There is no minimum age either. A teenager with wages from a summer job can contribute up to the amount they earned.
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Over-contributing, and how to fix it before it costs you
An excess contribution is taxed at 6% per year for every year it stays in the account, under the rules in the IRS instructions for Form 5329. The tax repeats annually — it is not a one-time penalty — so an ignored $2,000 excess quietly bills $120 each year it remains.
You avoid the tax by withdrawing the excess, plus any earnings attributable to it, by the due date of your return including extensions, and reporting it on Form 5329. Steps that keep most people out of trouble:.
- Track contributions across all IRAs, not per account, since the limit is combined.
- Estimate your MAGI before contributing if you are near a phase-out edge; a year-end bonus can push you over.
- If you overshoot, ask your custodian for a "return of excess contribution" rather than an ordinary withdrawal — the two are coded differently.
- Withdraw the earnings along with the excess; leaving them behind does not fully cure the problem.
The five-year clock and the missing RMD
Tax-free withdrawal is not automatic. Under IRS Publication 590-B, a distribution is qualified only if the account has been held five years — counted from January 1 of the year of your first contribution — and you are 59½ or meet a listed exception. Fall short on either test and a 10% additional tax can apply.
The counting rule is more generous than it sounds. A first contribution made in March 2026 starts the clock on January 1, 2026, so the five years are complete at the start of 2031, not March of that year. The offsetting advantage is that Roth IRAs carry no required minimum distributions during the original owner's lifetime, unlike traditional IRAs. You are never forced to draw the balance down, so it can compound for as long as you leave it — though inherited Roth IRAs do come with distribution requirements for the beneficiary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I contribute to a Roth IRA for 2026 if I already max out a 401(k) at work?
Yes. Workplace plan participation does not reduce your Roth IRA limit — only your MAGI and your taxable compensation do.
Does the $7,500 limit apply per account or per person?
Per person, across every traditional and Roth IRA you own combined. Opening a second Roth does not give you a second limit.
If my income lands mid-phase-out, do I lose the contribution entirely?
No. Your maximum is reduced on a sliding scale across the range; you are only shut out above the top of it.
Does the five-year clock restart when I open a second Roth IRA?
No. It runs from January 1 of the year of your first Roth contribution, not from each new account.
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