401(k) and IRA Contribution Limits for 2026, and Every Year Since 1975

01How Much Can You Put In?

Enter your age and your workplace plan to see the most you can contribute in 2026.

A guide to the IRS limits, not tax advice. Your plan can set lower limits, and highly paid employees can be limited further by their plan's nondiscrimination tests.

02All the Limits at a Glance

At small employers, SIMPLE plans can allow $18,100 (catch-up $3,850) under SECURE 2.0. The HSA catch-up at 55 and over is $1,000.

03Every Year

Before 1987 there was no separate limit on what employees could put into a 401(k); the only cap was the overall section 415(c) limit. The age 60 to 63 catch-up began in 2025.

04The 401(k) and IRA Limits Since 1975

The 401(k) employee limit went from $7,000 in 1987 to $24,500 in 2026; the IRA limit from $1,500 in 1975 to $7,500. The IRA limit stayed at $2,000 from 1982 to 2001, when it was not adjusted for inflation.

05Roth IRA Income Limits

Contributions to a Roth IRA phase out across these ranges of modified adjusted gross income. Above the top of the range, you cannot contribute directly.

06How the Limits Work

The employee limit is per person, not per plan. It covers everything you put into 401(k) and 403(b) plans in the year, across every employer, pre-tax and Roth combined. A government 457(b) plan has its own separate limit, so people with both can contribute the full amount to each.

Employer money has its own, higher ceiling. Matching and profit-sharing contributions do not count toward the employee limit. They count toward the total limit under section 415(c), which covers employee and employer contributions together in each employer's plans. Catch-up contributions are on top of both limits.

Catch-ups by age. You can make the age 50 catch-up in any year you turn 50 or older by December 31. Since 2025, people who turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 during the year get a larger catch-up instead; at 64 it drops back to the regular amount.

The Roth catch-up rule. Under SECURE 2.0, employees whose wages from their employer in the previous year were over the IRS threshold ($150,000 for 2026) must make any catch-up contributions as Roth. After a transition period, the rule applies from 2026, and the final IRS regulations apply from 2027.

Deadlines. 401(k) and 403(b) contributions come out of pay, so they must be made by the last paycheck of the year. IRA contributions for a year can be made until the tax-filing deadline the following April.

How the limits got here. Section 401(k) was added to the tax code by the Revenue Act of 1978 and took effect in 1980; plans spread after the IRS proposed rules in 1981. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 set the first separate employee limit, $7,000 from 1987, and tied it to inflation. Catch-up contributions began in 2002, the IRA catch-up became inflation-adjusted under SECURE 2.0, and the age 60 to 63 catch-up began in 2025.

07Questions People Ask

08Sources

• IRS: COLA increases for dollar limitations on benefits and contributions
• IRS: 401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA limit increases to $7,500 (Notice 2025-67)
• IRS: Retirement topics, 401(k) and profit-sharing plan contribution limits
• IRS: Final regulations on the Roth catch-up rule
• IRS: Historical COLA table; earlier years from IRS notices and the IRS section 415 training text
• IRS: Rev. Proc. 2026-24 (HSA limits)

Related: 401(k) Plan Lookup · all Financial Tools