457 Plan Limits: 2026 Caps, Catch-Ups, and Stacking Rules

For 2026, the 457 plan contribution limit is $24,500, or 100% of your includible compensation if that’s lower. Several catch-up provisions can raise your ceiling above the baseline depending on your age and how long you’ve been eligible for the plan. One quirk worth knowing up front: unlike a 401(k), any employer contributions to your 457(b) count against that same $24,500 cap.

The 2026 Standard Limit

You can defer up to $24,500 into a 457(b) in 2026, up from $23,500 in 2025.¹ The number covers all of your elective deferrals for the year, whether pre-tax or Roth (if your governmental plan offers a Roth option). If your total compensation for the year is below $24,500, your limit is whatever you earn.

Here’s where 457(b) plans behave differently from 401(k)s. In a 401(k), your employer’s match sits in a separate bucket and doesn’t reduce your personal deferral space. In a 457(b), the $24,500 cap covers both your salary deferrals and any nonelective contributions your employer makes on your behalf.² If your employer contributes $5,000, you can defer only $19,500 of your own salary. This single-cap structure applies to both governmental and non-governmental plans.³

Age 50 and Over Catch-Up

If you turn 50 or older during the calendar year and participate in a governmental 457(b), you can contribute an extra $8,000 in 2026, bringing your total to $32,500.⁴ This is the same age-50 catch-up available in 401(k) and 403(b) plans. It applies separately to each plan type if you participate in more than one.

The age-50 catch-up is not available in non-governmental (tax-exempt organization) 457(b) plans.⁵

Ages 60 Through 63 Enhanced Catch-Up

Under a SECURE 2.0 provision that took effect in 2025, governmental 457(b) participants who turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 during the calendar year get a larger catch-up: $11,250 instead of $8,000.¹ That puts the 2026 ceiling at $35,750 for those in this age window.

The enhanced amount replaces the standard $8,000 catch-up for those four years rather than stacking on top of it. Once you turn 64, you drop back to the regular $8,000. As with the age-50 rule, this enhanced tier does not apply in non-governmental plans.

Three-Year Pre-Retirement Catch-Up

This is the one catch-up available in both governmental and non-governmental 457(b) plans.⁶ During the three consecutive calendar years before you reach your plan’s normal retirement age, you can contribute more than the standard limit to make up for years when you contributed less than you were allowed.

The maximum you can defer under this rule is the lesser of two figures:

Twice the standard annual limit, which is $49,000 in 2026, or
The standard limit ($24,500) plus your total unused deferrals from all prior years you were eligible for the plan.

Unused deferrals are calculated by comparing what you were allowed to contribute each year to what you actually put in.⁷ If you maxed out your 457(b) every year, you have zero unused deferrals and this catch-up does nothing for you.

Your plan’s normal retirement age is defined in the plan document. Many plans let you select an age within a range, but it can never be later than 70½.⁷ The three-year window must be continuous and cannot include the year you actually retire.⁶

One important restriction: you cannot use the three-year pre-retirement catch-up in any year you’re also using an age-based catch-up. You have to pick one or the other.⁵ If the age-based catch-up would give you a higher limit for that year, take it instead. And the IRS has flagged a practical headache: calculating unused deferrals requires accurate records going back to when you first became eligible for any 457(b) plan, and many participants lack those records.⁶

Stacking a 457(b) With a 401(k) or 403(b)

Your 457(b) contribution limit is entirely separate from the limits on 401(k) and 403(b) plans. The two are not aggregated.³ If your employer offers both a 457(b) and a 403(b), you can max out both.

In 2026, that means $24,500 into a 457(b) and another $24,500 into a 401(k) or 403(b), for $49,000 in combined elective deferrals from your salary. Add age-based catch-ups to both plans and the numbers climb further. For someone in their early 60s maxing both plans with the SECURE 2.0 enhanced catch-up, total elective deferrals could exceed $71,000 in a single year.

The non-aggregation rule applies whether your 457(b) is sponsored by a governmental or non-governmental employer.³

Governmental vs. Non-Governmental: What Changes for Contributions

The type of employer sponsoring your plan affects which catch-ups you can use. Governmental plans are offered by state and local government employers. Non-governmental plans are offered by organizations that are tax-exempt under IRC Section 501(c), such as hospitals, charities, and universities.⁸

Both types share the $24,500 standard deferral limit and access to the three-year pre-retirement catch-up. The age-50 catch-up, the SECURE 2.0 enhanced catch-up for ages 60 through 63, and Roth contributions exist only in governmental plans.⁵⁸ Non-governmental plans are also restricted to a “select group of management or highly compensated employees,” so rank-and-file employees at a tax-exempt organization generally won’t have access to one in the first place.⁶

If You Contribute Too Much

If your contributions exceed the annual limit, the excess and any earnings on it have to be returned to you. The deadline depends on plan type.

For non-governmental plans, excess deferrals must be distributed back to you by April 15 of the year after the excess occurred.⁶ If the plan misses that deadline, it can lose its status as an eligible 457(b) and be reclassified as an ineligible 457(f) plan.⁹ Under a 457(f), all vested benefits become immediately taxable, and that consequence hits every participant in the plan.

Governmental plans must distribute the excess as soon as administratively practicable after discovering it. There is no fixed calendar deadline like April 15, but an uncorrected excess can still cause the plan to lose its eligible status, with benefits then taxed under the rules for ineligible plans.¹⁰

The simplest safeguard is tracking your year-to-date deferrals and staying in touch with your plan administrator, especially if you participate in more than one plan or change employers mid-year.

1
Internal Revenue Service. COLA Increases for Dollar Limitations on Benefits and Contributions
2
Internal Revenue Service. Comparison of Governmental 457(b) Plans and 401(k) Plans: Features and Corrections
3
Internal Revenue Service. How Much Salary Can You Defer if You’re Eligible for More Than One Retirement Plan
4
Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
5
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – 457(b) Contribution Limits
6
Internal Revenue Service. Non-Governmental 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plans
7
Internal Revenue Service. Issue Snapshot – Section 457(b) Plan of Governmental and Tax-Exempt Employers – Catch-Up Contributions
8
Internal Revenue Service. IRC 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plans
9
Internal Revenue Service. Issue Snapshot – 457(b) Plan of Tax-Exempt Entity – Tax Consequences of Noncompliance
10
Internal Revenue Service. Issue Snapshot – 457(b) Plans – Correction of Excess Deferrals