The headline numbers
For 2026 the IRS lifted the employee elective deferral limit for 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), and TSP plans to $24,500, a $1,000 increase over 2025. The combined employee + employer cap rises to $72,000. Catch-up for workers 50 and older is $8,000. Workers who turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 during the year get a super catch-up of $11,250 under SECURE 2.0.
The Roth catch-up rule finally kicks in
Starting with the 2026 tax year, if your prior-year Social Security wages exceeded roughly $150,000, your catch-up contribution must be made to a designated Roth account inside your 401(k). In practice: the extra $8,000 (or $11,250 super catch-up) is still deductible from the IRS's limit math, but no longer from your paycheck's taxable income. This was delayed twice; it is now live.
What to actually do in 2026
- If you're 49 and under, aim for the full $24,500. That's roughly $942 per biweekly paycheck.
- If you're 50-59 or 64+, add $8,000 catch-up for a total of $32,500.
- If you're 60-63, you have a one-shot window at $35,750 per year. Every dollar missed is decades of compounding gone.
- If you earn over $150,000, talk to HR about turning on the Roth catch-up bucket before January. Missing this is a correction headache.
- Check your match. The single highest-return decision is capturing every dollar of employer match before prioritizing a Roth IRA or HSA.
What did not change
The IRA / Roth IRA limit rose $500 to $7,500 (with $1,100 catch-up), the 2026 HSA self-only limit is $4,400 and family is $8,750, and the dependent care FSA is still stuck at $5,000 since the 1980s. The non-increase of the dependent care FSA is worth a letter to your senator.
The real lever is the total $72,000 cap
If your employer does a profit-sharing contribution or if you run a Solo 401(k), the underappreciated number is the $72,000 total. Freelancers with strong side income can stack $24,500 of employee deferral + up to 25% of compensation as employer contribution and close most of that gap. For W-2 workers, the mega backdoor Roth (after-tax contributions + in-plan conversion) is the way to reach the full $72k if your plan permits it.
Bookmark this page and come back in November when the IRS posts the 2027 inflation adjustments.