Annual Contribution Limits: 401(k), IRA, HSA, and Catch-Ups

For 2026, the annual contribution limits for a 401(k), IRA, and HSA are $24,500 for 401(k) elective deferrals, $7,500 across your Traditional and Roth IRAs combined, and $4,400 or $8,750 for a Health Savings Account depending on whether your High Deductible Health Plan covers you alone or your family.¹² Several of these figures went up from the year before, and workers 50 and older can go higher. A new rule also takes effect in 2026 that forces certain higher-paid employees to make their extra catch-up contributions on a Roth basis.

The 2026 Numbers at a Glance

401(k), 403(b), 457, TSP elective deferral: $24,500
401(k) total additions from all sources: $72,000
IRA (Traditional and Roth combined): $7,500
HSA self-only coverage: $4,400
HSA family coverage: $8,750
SIMPLE IRA employee deferral: $17,000 (or $18,100 at employers with 25 or fewer employees)
SEP IRA: lesser of 25% of compensation or $72,000

401(k), 403(b), 457, and TSP

If you participate in a 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b), or the federal Thrift Savings Plan, you can defer up to $24,500 of your salary in 2026, up from $23,500.¹ That figure covers only your own elective deferrals: the money withheld from your paycheck. Employer matching contributions and profit-sharing dollars don’t count against it.

A separate cap applies to total additions from all sources combined, including your deferrals, employer matches, and profit-sharing. For 2026, that overall ceiling is $72,000.³ This matters most for people whose employers contribute generously. You might sit well within your $24,500 deferral limit while still bumping into the $72,000 total once a large match or profit-sharing deposit lands.

IRA Limits and Who Can Use Them

You can contribute up to $7,500 across all your Traditional and Roth IRAs combined in 2026.⁴ Split the $7,500 however you want between account types; just don’t exceed the combined total. Your contribution also can’t be larger than your taxable compensation for the year, so someone who earned $5,000 is capped at $5,000 regardless of the statutory limit.

Roth IRA Income Phase-Outs

Not everyone can contribute directly to a Roth IRA. Eligibility depends on your modified adjusted gross income. Single filers can make a full contribution below $153,000; the amount shrinks as income rises and disappears at $168,000. Married couples filing jointly face a phase-out range of $242,000 to $252,000.¹ Fall inside the window and you can contribute a reduced amount calculated proportionally.⁵

Traditional IRA Deduction Phase-Outs

Anyone with earned income can contribute to a Traditional IRA. Whether you get to deduct the contribution depends on whether you or your spouse has a workplace retirement plan. If you’re covered at work and file single, the deduction phases out between $81,000 and $91,000 of income. For a married couple filing jointly where the contributing spouse has a workplace plan, the range is $129,000 to $149,000.¹

If you don’t have a workplace plan but your spouse does, the phase-out range is $242,000 to $252,000. If neither spouse is covered by a workplace plan, there is no phase-out at all, and the full deduction is available at any income.

HSA Limits and Mid-Year Eligibility

HSA contribution limits for 2026 are $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage under a High Deductible Health Plan.² These caps count everything deposited from every source. If your employer puts in $1,000 as a wellness incentive, your personal contribution room shrinks by that same $1,000. Rollovers from another HSA are the main exception; almost every other deposit counts.

Become eligible partway through the year and the default rule prorates your limit. Divide the annual cap by 12 and multiply by the number of months you had qualifying HDHP coverage on the first day of that month.⁶ Enroll on March 1 and you’d get 10/12 of the full-year amount.

The Last-Month Rule

An alternative to proration can work in your favor. If you’re HSA-eligible on December 1, the IRS treats you as eligible for the full year, so you can contribute the entire annual amount even with only a few months of qualifying coverage.⁷ The tradeoff is a testing period: you must stay eligible from December of that year through December 31 of the following year. Lose eligibility inside that window, say by switching to a non-HDHP plan in June, and the amount you contributed beyond the prorated limit gets added back to taxable income and hit with a 10% penalty.

Catch-Up Contributions

Workers approaching retirement can contribute above the standard limits. The specifics depend on the account, your age, and, starting in 2026, how much you earn.

401(k), 403(b), and 457 Catch-Up

Participants aged 50 and older can add $8,000 in catch-up contributions on top of the $24,500 standard deferral, for a personal ceiling of $32,500.³

A larger window opens between ages 60 and 63. Under SECURE 2.0, workers in this age band can contribute an extra $11,250 instead of $8,000, pushing their maximum to $35,750.³

Mandatory Roth Catch-Up for Higher Earners

Starting in 2026, catch-up contributions come with a new requirement for higher-paid employees. If your FICA wages from the prior year exceeded $145,000, your catch-up contributions to a 401(k), 403(b), or governmental 457(b) must be designated as Roth. That means after-tax dollars with no upfront deduction. Employees earning below the threshold can still choose either pre-tax or Roth catch-up contributions if their plan offers both.

IRA and HSA Catch-Up

IRA participants aged 50 and older can contribute an extra $1,100, for a total of $8,600.⁴ There’s no income restriction on the catch-up itself, though the Roth income phase-outs still govern which type of IRA the money can go into.

HSA catch-up starts at age 55. You can add an extra $1,000 per year. Unlike most catch-up amounts, this figure is fixed by statute and doesn’t adjust for inflation.⁶

SEP and SIMPLE IRA Limits

Self-employed workers and small-business owners often use a SEP IRA or SIMPLE IRA in place of a full 401(k). The limits work differently for each.

A SEP IRA accepts only employer contributions, including contributions you make as a self-employed person. For 2026, the maximum is the lesser of 25% of the employee’s compensation or $72,000.⁸ No catch-up applies because there is no employee salary deferral component.

SIMPLE IRAs are closer to a scaled-down 401(k). The employee salary reduction limit for 2026 is $17,000.⁹ Employers with 25 or fewer employees may offer a slightly higher $18,100 limit. Participants 50 and older can add an extra $3,500 to $4,000 depending on employer size, and the SECURE 2.0 super catch-up for ages 60 through 63 adds $5,250.

Deadlines

The deadline for getting money into these accounts depends on the account type. Mixing them up can cost you a full year of tax benefits.

For 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans, elective deferrals have to come out of paychecks dated on or before December 31. There is no grace period. If a deferral doesn’t leave your paycheck by year-end, it doesn’t count for that tax year. Employer contributions run on a slightly different clock and can be deposited after year-end, as long as they arrive by the business’s tax return due date, including extensions.

IRA contributions are more forgiving. You have until the tax filing deadline, typically April 15 of the following year, to make or finish a prior-year contribution.¹⁰ A point that trips people up: filing a tax extension does not extend this deadline. An extension gives you more time to file, not more time to fund an IRA for the prior year.

HSA contributions follow the same April 15 deadline as IRAs. Deposits for the prior tax year can go in up until you file your return or the filing deadline, whichever comes first. A filing extension does not buy extra time.

Penalties for Excess Contributions

Going over the limit triggers a 6% excise tax on the excess amount for every year it stays in the account.¹¹ The penalty applies annually rather than once, so a forgotten $2,000 excess sitting in an IRA for three years generates $120 in tax each of those years. Report and pay the penalty on IRS Form 5329.¹²

The fix for IRA and HSA excess contributions is straightforward. Withdraw the excess plus any earnings it generated before the tax filing deadline (including extensions) for the year of the contribution. The earnings you pull out become taxable income in the year you withdraw them, but you avoid the 6% penalty.⁷

Excess 401(k) deferrals have a tighter correction window. If you over-contributed because you changed jobs and deferred into two plans, notify one plan’s administrator and request a corrective distribution of the excess plus earnings by April 15 of the following year. Miss that deadline and the money gets taxed twice: once in the year you earned it, and again when it’s eventually distributed. A tax filing extension does not push this April 15 correction back.

The most common way excess contributions happen is switching employers mid-year. The new employer’s payroll system doesn’t know what you already deferred at the old job, so it starts fresh. If you were on pace to max out at both, you’ll blow past the limit unless you proactively lower your deferral rate at the new job.

1
Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
2
Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2025-19
3
Internal Revenue Service. COLA Increases for Dollar Limitations on Benefits and Contributions
4
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – IRA Contribution Limits
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408A – Roth IRAs
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 223 – Health Savings Accounts
7
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 969 – Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Accounts
8
Internal Revenue Service. SEP Contribution Limits (Including Grandfathered SARSEPs)
9
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – SIMPLE IRA Contribution Limits
10
Internal Revenue Service. Traditional and Roth IRAs
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4973 – Tax on Excess Contributions to Certain Tax-Favored Accounts and Annuities
12
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 5329, Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans (Including IRAs) and Other Tax-Favored Accounts