The maximum 401(k) contribution for 2025 is $23,500 from your own paycheck if you’re under 50, and $70,000 total once employer matching and other contributions are added in. For 2026, those figures rise to $24,500 and $72,000.1Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2024-80 – 2025 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs2Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500 Catch-up contributions push those ceilings higher once you turn 50, and higher still for a narrow window in your early sixties.
Employee Deferral Limits by Age
The limit on what you personally elect to defer from your paycheck, whether pre-tax or Roth, depends on your age at year-end.
- Under 50: $23,500 for 2025; $24,500 for 2026.
- Age 50 or older: Add a $7,500 catch-up for 2025, bringing the total to $31,000. The catch-up rises to $8,000 for 2026, for a total of $32,500.
- Ages 60 through 63: An enhanced catch-up of $11,250 applies in both years, for totals of $34,750 in 2025 and $35,750 in 2026.
The enhanced bracket is a SECURE 2.0 Act feature aimed at workers in what are often their highest-earning years.2Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500 It applies only in the calendar years you turn 60, 61, 62, or 63. At 64, you revert to the standard age-50 catch-up.
The Combined Limit Including Employer Contributions
A separate, higher cap governs everything that flows into your account in a year: your deferrals, employer matching, profit-sharing, and any after-tax (non-Roth) contributions the plan permits. For 2025 that combined ceiling is $70,000. For 2026 it’s $72,000.3Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2025-67 – 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs
Catch-up contributions sit on top of that ceiling. The full picture by bracket:
- Under 50: $70,000 in 2025; $72,000 in 2026.
- Age 50 or older: $77,500 in 2025; $80,000 in 2026.
- Ages 60 through 63: $81,250 in 2025; $83,250 in 2026.
Most workers never approach these totals through match alone. The ceiling becomes relevant if your plan allows voluntary after-tax contributions on top of the standard deferral, since those can push the combined amount close to the cap.
The Compensation Cap That Shapes Your Match
The IRS also limits how much of your salary a plan can consider when calculating contributions and matches. Only the first $350,000 of pay counts in 2025, rising to $360,000 in 2026.1Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2024-80 – 2025 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs3Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2025-67 – 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs
If you earn $400,000 in 2025 and your employer matches 5% of pay, the match runs against $350,000, not your full salary. Compensation above the cap is invisible to the plan for matching purposes.
If You Contribute to More Than One 401(k)
The employee deferral limit applies per person, not per plan. Combined deferrals across every 401(k) you participate in during the year, along with any 403(b) or SIMPLE plan, cannot exceed the annual limit.4Internal Revenue Service. How Much Salary Can You Defer if You’re Eligible for More Than One Retirement Plan
Employers don’t coordinate this for you. If you change jobs mid-year, carry over what you already deferred at the previous employer when you set your new contribution rate. The tracking is on you.
The Roth Catch-Up Requirement Starting in 2026
A SECURE 2.0 provision takes effect in 2026: if your FICA-taxable wages in the prior year exceeded $145,000, any catch-up contributions you make must go into a Roth account rather than pre-tax. You can still make the catch-up. It just won’t reduce your current taxable income, and the tradeoff is tax-free qualified withdrawals later.
Workers below that wage threshold can still choose pre-tax or Roth for catch-ups if the plan offers both. If a plan has no Roth option at all, its higher-paid participants lose access to catch-up contributions until the sponsor adds one.
What Happens if You Go Over
Exceed the employee deferral limit and you need to tell your plan administrator so the excess, plus any earnings on it, is distributed back to you by April 15 of the following year. That deadline is fixed. It does not move if you file a tax extension.5Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – 401(k) and Profit-Sharing Plan Contribution Limits
Miss it and the excess is taxed twice: once in the year you contributed it, and again when it’s eventually distributed from the plan.6Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Plan Fix-It Guide – Elective Deferrals Weren’t Limited to the Amounts Under IRC Section 402(g) That’s an expensive fix, and it most often trips up people who switched jobs and didn’t realize they’d overcontributed until tax season. Keep a running total if you’re near the ceiling.