Higher Contribution Limits for Retirement Accounts in 2026

The Internal Revenue Service recently announced higher contribution and benefit limits for qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts for 2026, giving savers a chance to put away more for the future. The contribution limit for employees who participate in 401(k), 403(b) and most 457 plans, as well as the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan will increase to $24,500, up from $23,500. This $1,000 increase is indexed to inflation and aims to protect the purchasing power of retirement savings. The limit on annual contributions to a Traditional or Roth IRA will increase to $7,500 from $7,000.

The catch-up contribution limit that applies to employees age 50 and over will increase to $8,000, up from $7,500. That means anyone age 50+ in 2026 can contribute a maximum of $32,500. The catch-up limit to an IRA will rise from $1,000 to $1,100 for a total of $8,600.

Also, remember that beginning in 2025, the “super catch-up” was enacted and applies to those savers age 60, 61, 62 and 63. The super catch-up limit remains unchanged for 2026 at $11,250 making $35,750 the maximum amount. Anyone 64 and older will revert to the normal catch-up amount. The super catch-up is an optional feature and therefore must be adopted by the Plan to allow.

The IRS also released guidance about a new Roth catch-up requirement that was introduced under SECURE Act 2.0. In a twist, the IRS retroactively changed the Roth catch-up FICA wage threshold from $145,000 to $150,000. Plan Sponsors must use this limitation to determine who the Highly Paid Individuals (HPIs) are for 2026. Any participant identified as an HPI must make any catch-up contributions as Roth amounts only – pre-tax is not an option. The new rules will apply to contributions in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025. There is a great article in the November edition of our Perspectives newsletter about this topic authored by the Director of our Retirement Plan Division, Chris Middleton.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) also announced an increase to key numbers that affect workers and retirees for 2026. The Social Security Wage Base, which is the maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security tax, will increase by $8,400 to $184,500.

For retirees, the SSA announced a 2.8% increase to monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits, which is slightly higher than last year’s COLA of 2.5%. On average, that translates to approximately $56 for the average single retiree, resulting in an average monthly benefit of $2,071 ($24,852 annual benefit), further highlighting the importance of personal savings for retirement.

The chart below reflects the key limits, along with other frequently used benefit and compensation items for 2026:

Retirement Plan Limitations	2026	2025
Annual deferral limit for 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans aka “402(g) limit”	$24,500	$23,500
Catch-up contribution limit for savers age 50-59 and 64+ in 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans	$8,000 $32,500 total	$7,500 $31,000 total
Super catch-up contribution limit for savers age 60-63 in 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans	$11,250 $35,750 total	$11,250 $34,750 total
Roth Catch-up Highly-Paid Individual (HPI) limit	TBD	$150,000
Annual contribution limit to a defined contribution plan aka “415 limit”	$72,000	$70,000
Annual compensation limit to a defined contribution plan aka “401(a) limit”	$360,000	$350,000
Highly Compensated Employee (HCE) compensation definition	$160,000	$160,000
Officer or Key Employee compensation definition	$235,000	$230,000
Income subject to Social Security tax (wage base)	$184,500	$176,100
Annual IRA contribution limit	$7,500	$7,000
Annual IRA catch-up contribution limit for savers age 50 and older	$1,100	$1,000
Health Savings Account (HSA) individual contribution limit	$4,400	$4,300
Health Savings Account (HSA) family contribution limit	$8,750	$8,550
Health Savings Account (HSA) catch-up contribution limit for savers age 55 and older	$1,000	$1,000

The Retirement Savings Contribution Credit – aka the “Saver’s Credit” – offers low- and middle-income workers who contribute to a retirement plan a tax credit worth up to $1,000 ($2,000 for married couples) when they file their annual tax return. It is a particularly good incentive to get young people to start saving early and assist taxpayers with modest incomes to make their money work harder for them. The credit for 2026 (taxes filed in 2027) is $80,500 and under for married couples filing jointly; $60,375 and under for head of household; and $40,250 and under for single filers.

The Saver’s Credit as it exists today is also in for significant changes, particularly with respect to how it will be paid. The SECURE 2.0 Act converts the current tax credit into a government matching program for retirement plan contributions dubbed the “Saver’s Match.” The new Saver’s Match is not effective until 2027, so the existing tax credit will be around for a few more years.

Should you have any questions regarding the various limitations that apply to retirement plans, including some that are not included in the table, please contact our Greenleaf Trust Retirement Plan Division.