Fifty-five with savings that don't match your income history. Good news: the tax code hands you extra room specifically for this situation.
401(k) catch-up: $8,000 on top of $24,500. IRA catch-up: $1,100 on top of $7,500. HSA catch-up: $1,000 on top of $4,400 (or $8,750 family). That's $10,100 of extra pretax room, $2,400 of extra IRA room.
If you're married and your spouse is also 55+, double those numbers. A 55+ couple can legally shelter roughly $80,000 of income across 401(k) + IRA + HSA in 2026, before even touching the 60-63 super catch-up window coming at 60.
Strategy. Front-load the catch-up by raising your deferral rate in January. Payroll systems often put a surprise pause on contributions once you hit the base $24,500 — make sure yours continues into the catch-up bucket automatically, otherwise you'll miss it.
Plan for the Roth catch-up rule. If your 2025 W-2 Social Security wages exceeded $150,000, your 2026 catch-up must be Roth. That's tax you pay now, but you're effectively pre-paying retirement tax at your (probably peak) working-age rate.
At 60, a new window opens: the super catch-up of $11,250 replaces the standard $8,000. For a couple with both spouses working through the 60-63 window, that's an extra $6,500 a year per person over the standard catch-up. Fund it.