In 2026, you can defer up to $24,500 into a 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans, or the federal Thrift Savings Plan, and up to $7,500 into a traditional or Roth IRA. Workers 50 and older can set aside more in both accounts, and a special higher limit applies if you're between 60 and 63. The Internal Revenue Service set these figures in Notice 2025-67, released November 13, 2025, and they take effect January 1, 2026. Each limit moved up from 2025 to account for inflation, and several catch-up and income thresholds changed along with them.
Table of Contents
- What's the new 401(k) contribution limit?
- What's the new IRA contribution limit?
- Do income limits affect your IRA contribution?
- Can you max out both a 401(k) and an IRA in the same year?
- What about SIMPLE IRA and SIMPLE 401(k) plans?
- Frequently Asked Questions
What's the new 401(k) contribution limit?
The employee elective deferral limit for 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans, and the Thrift Savings Plan rises to $24,500 for 2026, up from $23,500 in 2025, according to the IRS's 2026 limit increases. This is the cap on what you personally contribute through payroll deferral — it doesn't include any employer match or profit-sharing contribution, which fall under a separate, higher combined limit. Catch-up contributions add to that base number for older savers. Workers age 50 and up can contribute an extra $8,000 in 2026, up from $7,500, bringing their total 401(k)-type deferral to $32,500, per the same IRS notice.
Savers who are 60, 61, 62, or 63 during the year get a bigger "super" catch-up of $11,250 — unchanged from 2025 under the SECURE 2.0 Act — pushing their maximum deferral to $35,750. One wrinkle affects higher earners who use the catch-up. For 2026, anyone whose FICA wages exceeded $150,000 in the prior year (up from $145,000) must make their catch-up contribution as after-tax Roth money rather than pre-tax, if their employer's plan allows catch-ups at all. That rule only applies to the catch-up portion — the base $24,500 deferral can still be made pre-tax or Roth, depending on what the plan offers.
What's the new IRA contribution limit?
The combined limit for traditional and Roth IRA contributions climbs to $7,500 for 2026, up from $7,000, the IRS confirmed in the same notice. That cap applies across all your IRAs combined — you can't contribute $7,500 to a traditional IRA and another $7,500 to a Roth in the same year. The age-50-and-over IRA catch-up also increased, to $1,100 from $1,000, for a total of $8,600 if you qualify.
This is a new development: SECURE 2.0 indexed the IRA catch-up to inflation starting in 2026, so unlike the 401(k) catch-up amounts, this figure had been flat at $1,000 for years and is only now adjusting upward. Whether you can deduct a traditional IRA contribution, or contribute to a Roth IRA at all, depends on your income and tax-filing status — not on these contribution limits themselves. Those income rules are covered next.
Do income limits affect your IRA contribution?
Yes, but the effect differs by account type. For a traditional IRA, the limits only determine whether your contribution is tax-deductible — you can still contribute even above the thresholds, you just lose some or all of the deduction. For 2026, if you're covered by a workplace plan, the deduction phases out between $81,000 and $91,000 of income for single filers, and between $129,000 and $149,000 for married couples filing jointly where the contributing spouse is covered, each roughly $2,000 to $3,000 higher than the 2025 ranges.
Roth IRAs work differently: income limits determine eligibility to contribute at all, not just deductibility. For 2026, the ability to contribute directly to a Roth IRA phases out between $153,000 and $168,000 of modified adjusted gross income for single filers and heads of household, and between $242,000 and $252,000 for married couples filing jointly. Earn above the top of your range, and you can't contribute directly to a Roth IRA for that year.
- Single, covered by a workplace plan: traditional IRA deduction phases out $81,000–$91,000
- Married filing jointly, contributing spouse covered: deduction phases out $129,000–$149,000
- Single/head of household: Roth IRA eligibility phases out $153,000–$168,000
- Married filing jointly: Roth IRA eligibility phases out $242,000–$252,000
Can you max out both a 401(k) and an IRA in the same year?
Yes. The 401(k) limit and the IRA limit are separate caps that both reset on January 1, 2026, so contributing the maximum to one doesn't reduce what you can put into the other.
📨 Get Free Medicare Guides Alerts
Free · No spam · Unsubscribe anytime
A worker under 50 who is eligible for both could defer up to $32,000 total in 2026 — $24,500 into a workplace plan and $7,500 into an IRA — according to the IRS notice. For savers 50 and older, the same principle applies with the higher catch-up amounts layered in: up to $32,500 in a 401(k)-type plan plus up to $8,600 in an IRA. The two accounts also serve different purposes worth weighing together — a 401(k) often comes with an employer match, which is effectively free money up to the match threshold, while an IRA typically offers a broader choice of investments than a workplace plan menu.
What about SIMPLE IRA and SIMPLE 401(k) plans?
Smaller employers often use SIMPLE IRA or SIMPLE 401(k) plans instead of a standard 401(k). The employee deferral limit for these plans rises to $17,000 for 2026, up from $16,500, the IRS notice states.
That's lower than the $24,500 limit for standard 401(k) plans, reflecting the lighter administrative requirements SIMPLE plans carry for employers. If your catch-up contributions matter to your planning and you're not sure which type of plan your employer offers, check your plan documents or ask your benefits administrator — the deferral limit, catch-up amount, and Roth catch-up rule can all differ between a SIMPLE plan and a standard 401(k).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the $24,500 401(k) limit the same for 403(b) and 457 plans?
Yes. The IRS set the same $24,500 employee deferral limit for 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans, and the federal Thrift Savings Plan for 2026.
Does the IRA catch-up amount apply automatically once you turn 50?
It applies for any year in which you turn 50 or older, letting you contribute the extra $1,100 on top of the $7,500 base IRA limit for 2026.
Why did the IRA catch-up increase this year when it hadn't before?
SECURE 2.0 indexed the IRA catch-up contribution to inflation starting in 2026, so it can now rise with cost-of-living adjustments the way the 401(k) catch-up already did.
You Might Also Like
- Can You Hold Gold in an IRA Without Breaking IRS Rules?
- Can Your IRA Provider Accept the New Federal Retirement Match in 2027?
- Can You Receive SSI and Social Security Retirement at the Same Time?