401(k) Limit 2027 and IRA Limit 2027: What's Official and When the IRS Announces

Autumn is when many people set next year's 401(k) percentage during open enrollment. That makes "401(k) limit 2027" one of the most searched retirement questions this time of year. The IRS has not answered it yet.

Status as of October 16, 2026: the 2027 limits for 401(k), 403(b), 457 plans, the Thrift Savings Plan and IRAs are not yet released. The IRS retirement COLA table still ends at 2026. The official limits in force today are the 2026 figures from IRS Notice 2025-67, published November 13, 2025. They are listed below, together with what to expect for 2027.

Official 2026 limits vs. 2027 status

Limit	2025	2026 (official)	2027
401(k), 403(b), governmental 457, TSP: employee deferral	$23,500	$24,500	Pending
Catch-up, age 50+	$7,500	$8,000	Pending
Super catch-up, ages 60 to 63	$11,250	$11,250	Pending
Total contributions to a defined contribution plan (employee + employer)	$70,000	$72,000	Pending
Compensation that can be considered	$350,000	$360,000	Pending
IRA contribution limit	$7,000	$7,500	Pending
IRA catch-up, age 50+	$1,000	$1,100	Pending
SIMPLE plan deferral	$16,500	$17,000	Pending
Highly compensated employee threshold	$160,000	$160,000	Pending

The IRS publishes all of these at once in a notice, together with a short news release. Recent dates were November 1, 2024 (for 2025) and November 13, 2025 (for 2026). If the pattern holds, the 2027 figures should arrive around early to mid November 2026. We will update this page when they do.

Why the 2027 number cannot be calculated exactly yet

The limits are adjusted each year with a cost-of-living formula set in the tax code, and the results are rounded. That is why a limit sometimes stays flat and sometimes jumps. The 2026 notice shows both: the regular catch-up rose from $7,500 to $8,000, while the age 60 to 63 catch-up stayed at $11,250. Independent estimates for 2027 exist, but they are projections and this guide does not present them as figures.

How much you can put in for 2026, by age

Age during 2026	Employee maximum in a 401(k)/403(b)/457/TSP	IRA maximum
Under 50	$24,500	$7,500
50 to 59	$32,500 ($24,500 + $8,000)	$8,600 ($7,500 + $1,100)
60 to 63	$35,750 ($24,500 + $11,250)	$8,600
64 and older	$32,500	$8,600

The super catch-up depends on the age you reach by December 31. Someone who turns 60 in December 2026 can use the higher amount for the whole of 2026. The plan must offer catch-up contributions for any of this to apply.

IRA deduction and Roth IRA income limits (2026, official)

Rule	Phase-out range 2026
Traditional IRA deduction, single, covered by a workplace plan	$81,000 to $91,000
Traditional IRA deduction, married filing jointly, contributor covered	$129,000 to $149,000
Traditional IRA deduction, contributor not covered but spouse is	$242,000 to $252,000
Roth IRA eligibility, single and head of household	$153,000 to $168,000
Roth IRA eligibility, married filing jointly	$242,000 to $252,000
Married filing separately (IRA deduction and Roth)	$0 to $10,000 (not indexed)

The Saver's Credit income limit for 2026 is $80,500 for joint filers, $60,375 for heads of household and $40,250 for single filers.

What to do during open enrollment, before the 2027 limit is known

1. Set a percentage, not a dollar amount, if you plan to max out. If the limit rises, a percentage election can capture the increase without a second change. Ask HR or your plan provider how payroll handles contributions once you reach the IRS limit.
2. Check your employer match formula. If you hit the annual limit early in the year, some plans stop matching. Spreading contributions across all pay periods protects the match unless your plan has a "true-up".
3. If you turn 60 to 63 in 2027, ask HR now whether your plan offers catch-up contributions, including the higher age 60 to 63 limit.
4. High earners: under SECURE 2.0, catch-up contributions must be Roth if your prior-year FICA wages from that employer exceeded the IRS threshold. For 2026 catch-ups the threshold is $150,000 of 2025 wages (Notice 2025-67). Roth catch-ups are not deducted from taxable pay, so take-home pay will be lower than with a pre-tax catch-up.
5. Use 2026 room first. You can fund a 2026 IRA until April 15, 2027. 401(k) deferrals must be taken from 2026 paychecks, so the window for 2026 closes with your last paycheck in December.

How a 401(k) contribution changes your tax bill

A pre-tax deferral lowers taxable income dollar for dollar. Take a single filer with $90,000 of wages in 2026 who raises the deferral from $10,000 to $15,000. Taxable income falls by $5,000. That $5,000 sits in the 22% bracket (see the official 2026 brackets), so federal income tax drops by about $1,100. Take-home pay falls by less than $5,000, because the tax withheld from each paycheck also drops. Roth deferrals give no deduction now, but qualified withdrawals later are tax-free.

The 2026 Social Security taxable wage base is $184,500, according to the IRS COLA table. Retirees can see how benefits will change next year in our guide to the Social Security COLA for 2027.

Other accounts with official 2027 numbers already

Health savings accounts are the exception. The IRS sets HSA limits early, and the 2027 figures are already official: $4,500 for self-only coverage and $9,000 for family coverage. See the 2027 HSA limits. If you have an HSA-eligible health plan, an HSA is often worth funding alongside a 401(k).

Traditional or Roth 401(k)?

Most plans now offer both, and the $24,500 limit for 2026 covers the two together. You can split contributions between them, but you cannot put $24,500 in each.

	Traditional (pre-tax)	Roth (after-tax)
Tax break now	Yes, lowers taxable income this year	No
Withdrawals in retirement	Taxed as ordinary income	Tax-free if they are qualified distributions
Required minimum distributions	Yes, from age 73	Not required from designated Roth accounts in a 401(k) or 403(b) while the owner is alive
Often makes sense when	Your bracket now is higher than you expect in retirement	Your bracket now is low, or you expect higher taxes later

The $72,000 total limit and after-tax contributions

The $72,000 figure for 2026 is the IRS limit for total contributions to a defined contribution plan. It covers employee and employer contributions together. Some plans also accept after-tax contributions above the $24,500 deferral limit, and some allow those amounts to be converted to Roth inside the plan. This is often called the "mega backdoor Roth". Whether it is available depends entirely on your plan document, so check the summary plan description before counting on it.

Changing jobs mid-year

The $24,500 employee limit is per person, not per employer. If you contribute $15,000 at one job and then move, you can put only $9,500 into the new employer's plan for 2026. The new payroll system does not know what you contributed before, so you have to track it yourself. If you go over, ask the plan to return the excess and its earnings by April 15 of the following year. IRS Publication 525 says an excess left in the plan is taxed twice: once in the year you contributed it and again when it is distributed.

Bottom line

The 401(k) and IRA limits for 2027 are still pending. The IRS normally announces them in November. Until then, the official limits are $24,500 for a 401(k), $8,000 or $11,250 for catch-up, and $7,500 for an IRA plus a $1,100 catch-up. During open enrollment, choose a percentage that reaches your goal under the 2026 limit. Then check this page after the November release.