Yes, you can contribute to both a Roth IRA and a Roth 457(b) in the same year, and money you put into one does not reduce what you can put into the other. For 2026, that means up to $7,500 in a Roth IRA and up to $24,500 in a Roth 457(b), for a combined $32,000 in after-tax retirement savings before any catch-up contributions.
Why the Two Limits Don’t Collide
Roth IRAs are governed by Section 408A of the Internal Revenue Code as personal retirement accounts. 457(b) plans sit under Section 457 as employer-sponsored deferred compensation arrangements.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408A – Roth IRAs2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 457 – Deferred Compensation Plans of State and Local Governments and Tax-Exempt Organizations Because they live in different parts of the tax code, the IRS treats them as independent buckets. Maxing out the Roth 457(b) at work has no effect on your Roth IRA room, and the reverse is also true.
This is different from how Traditional and Roth IRAs interact. If you own both, contributions across the two share a single annual IRA cap. The 457(b) sits outside that shared cap entirely, with its own much larger limit.
How Much You Can Contribute in 2026
Roth IRA
For 2026, you can contribute up to $7,500 to your Roth IRA, or to a combination of your Traditional and Roth IRAs if you have both. If you are age 50 or older by year-end, an extra $1,100 in catch-up contributions brings your total to $8,600.3Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – IRA Contribution Limits Your contribution also cannot exceed your taxable compensation for the year, so an earner with only $5,000 in wages is capped at $5,000.
The limit applies to the total across all your IRAs, not per account. Put $4,000 into a Traditional IRA and you have $3,500 left for the Roth IRA that year, assuming you’re under 50.
Roth 457(b)
The 457(b) allows much larger annual contributions. For 2026, the basic elective deferral limit is $24,500. Participants age 50 and older can add an $8,000 catch-up, raising the ceiling to $32,500.4Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
Under the SECURE 2.0 Act, participants who are 60, 61, 62, or 63 get a larger catch-up. Instead of the standard $8,000, these participants can add up to $11,250 on top of the $24,500 base, for a total of $35,750 in 2026.4Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
The 457(b) also offers a separate special catch-up for participants within three years of the plan’s normal retirement age, potentially allowing contributions up to double the basic limit. You cannot combine the special catch-up with the age-50 catch-up in the same year; you take whichever is larger.5Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – 457(b) Contribution Limits
Stacking With a 401(k) or 403(b)
If you also have a 401(k) or 403(b) at work, your 457(b) contributions do not count against those plans’ limits. The IRS keeps 457(b) deferrals in a separate pool.6Internal Revenue Service. How Much Salary Can You Defer if You’re Eligible for More Than One Retirement Plan A 401(k) and a 403(b), by contrast, share a single combined $24,500 limit in 2026. So a worker with all three plans available could defer $24,500 into a 401(k) or 403(b), another $24,500 into a 457(b), and separately fund a Roth IRA.
Income Limits That Apply Only to the Roth IRA
Your ability to contribute directly to a Roth IRA depends on your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI). For 2026, the phase-out ranges are:4Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
- Single or head of household: full contributions up to $153,000 MAGI, reduced between $153,000 and $168,000, none above $168,000.
- Married filing jointly: full contributions up to $242,000 MAGI, reduced between $242,000 and $252,000, none above $252,000.
- Married filing separately (living with spouse): phase-out range of $0 to $10,000, not adjusted for inflation.
If your income falls inside the phase-out range, the IRS reduces your allowable amount, and Publication 590-A has a worksheet to calculate the exact figure. Contribute more than allowed and the IRS charges a 6% excise tax on the excess for every year it stays in the account, reported on Form 5329.7Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-A, Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
These limits apply only to the Roth IRA. The Roth 457(b) has no income cap. If your employer offers the Roth option, you can make designated Roth contributions regardless of how much you earn.
The Backdoor Roth IRA for High Earners
If your income exceeds the Roth IRA phase-out, a two-step approach known as a backdoor Roth IRA can still get money in. First, make a nondeductible contribution to a Traditional IRA, which has no income limit. Second, convert that Traditional IRA balance to a Roth IRA, since conversions themselves have no income restriction. You track the after-tax basis on IRS Form 8606.
The complication is the pro-rata rule. The tax code treats all your Traditional IRAs as a single account for distribution and conversion purposes.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408 – Individual Retirement Accounts If you have existing pre-tax money in any Traditional, SEP, or SIMPLE IRA, the conversion is treated as a proportional mix of pre-tax and after-tax dollars, not as coming solely from the new nondeductible contribution. On a $100,000 combined Traditional IRA balance made up of $95,000 pre-tax and $5,000 nondeductible, converting $5,000 leaves only $250 tax-free and $4,750 taxable.
The cleanest backdoor conversion happens when you have no pre-tax Traditional IRA balance. One common workaround is rolling pre-tax IRA money into your employer’s 457(b) or other workplace plan (if it accepts incoming rollovers) before converting.
Who Can Actually Have a Roth 457(b)
A Roth IRA is available to anyone with earned income who falls within the MAGI limits. A Roth 457(b) is available only through your employer, and only if the employer has amended the plan to offer the Roth option. Two types of 457(b) plans exist:
- Governmental 457(b) plans, offered by state and local government employers including public school districts, police departments, and municipal agencies.9Internal Revenue Service. IRC 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plans
- Non-governmental 457(b) plans, available only through tax-exempt organizations such as hospitals and charities, with participation typically limited to a select group of management or highly compensated employees.10Internal Revenue Service. Comparison of Tax-Exempt 457(b) Plans and Governmental 457(b) Plans
One boundary worth flagging for the non-governmental version: assets remain the property of the employer until distributed and are subject to the employer’s creditors, and they cannot be rolled into an IRA or another retirement plan when you leave.10Internal Revenue Service. Comparison of Tax-Exempt 457(b) Plans and Governmental 457(b) Plans That does not change what you can contribute this year, but it affects how you might weigh the two accounts.
A New Rule for Catch-Up Contributions in 2026
Starting January 1, 2026, the SECURE 2.0 Act changes catch-up contributions for higher-paid employees. If your FICA wages (Social Security wages in Box 3 of your W-2) from the employer sponsoring the plan exceeded $145,000 in the prior calendar year, adjusted for inflation, any catch-up contributions you make to that plan must be designated as Roth.11Federal Register. Catch-Up Contributions Pre-tax catch-ups are no longer available above the threshold.
The rule covers governmental 457(b), 401(k), and 403(b) plans. It affects only the catch-up portion above the $24,500 base, and the threshold is measured against your prior-year wages from the specific employer maintaining the plan, not household income. Below the threshold, you keep the choice between pre-tax and Roth catch-ups.
How the Withdrawal Rules Compare
Both accounts use after-tax contributions that grow tax-free, but the rules for taking money out differ, and that matters when you decide how to divide your contributions.
Roth IRA
You can withdraw your original Roth IRA contributions at any time, at any age, with no tax or penalty. Earnings are tax-free and penalty-free only in a qualified distribution, which requires being at least 59½ (or meeting another qualifying exception) and having the account open at least five tax years.12Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) Withdraw earnings before meeting both and you generally owe income tax plus a 10% early distribution penalty on the earnings portion. Roth IRAs also have no required minimum distributions during your lifetime.
Roth 457(b)
Governmental 457(b) distributions are not subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty that hits most other employer plans, regardless of the age at which you take them. The exception is money rolled in from a different plan type such as a 401(k) or IRA, which can trigger the penalty if withdrawn early.13Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Exceptions to Tax on Early Distributions
You generally cannot take distributions from a 457(b) until you leave that employer or reach age 70½, whichever comes first, with limited exceptions for unforeseeable emergencies or small account balances.14eCFR. 26 CFR 1.457-6 – Timing of Distributions Under Eligible Plans Once you meet the five-year holding requirement, qualified Roth distributions come out tax-free. Beginning in 2024, designated Roth accounts in governmental 457(b) plans are no longer subject to required minimum distributions during the account holder’s lifetime, matching the Roth IRA rule.