Enter your birth year and, if you like, last year's wages. You'll get your exact 2026 contribution limit, whether your catch-up must now be Roth under the new high-earner rule, and what making every catch-up from here to retirement is actually worth.
Three questions, one page
The 401k catch-up used to be one number. In 2026 it is three questions. How much extra can I put in? That depends on your age, and not just "over 50 or not": SECURE 2.0 created a four-year super window at ages 60 to 63 with a bigger limit that quietly closes again at 64. Does it have to be Roth? New this year: if you earned over $150,000 at your employer last year, yes, it does, and if your plan has no Roth option, the answer is sharper than that. And what is it actually worth? The catch-up years are the last, highest-earning, most compoundable contributions you will ever make, and putting a future value on them is what turns "I should probably do that" into a payroll election.
The 2026 numbers
Base limit $24,500 Catch-up (50+) $8,000 Super catch-up (60 to 63) $11,250
Roth required when prior-year wages > $150,000
Figures from IRS Notice 2025-67. Your age for the whole year is the age you turn during it: the year you turn 50 you get the catch-up from January 1, and the year you turn 64 the super window is already closed. These are employee deferral limits; employer matching sits on top under a separate overall cap.
Worked example
Born in 1966, you turn 60 in 2026: the super window just opened. Your employee limit is 24,500 + 11,250 = $35,750. Your 2025 wages were $180,000, over the threshold, so the catch-up portion must be Roth.
At a 6% return and retirement at 67: this year's $11,250 catch-up alone grows to $16,915.84. Making every catch-up from 60 through 66 (four super years, then three standard) means putting in $69,000 that becomes $89,129.01 at 67, and the super window's extra $3,250 a year accounts for $17,949.27 of it by itself.
The Roth mandate, and its sharp edge
The high-earner Roth rule finally took effect this January after two years of delay, and the mechanics matter. The test is last year's FICA wages, at the employer sponsoring the plan: switch jobs and the counter resets, and the self-employed with no W-2 wages are outside the rule entirely. Crossing the line does not shrink your catch-up; it changes its tax character: after-tax in, tax-free out. For most people in their 60s that is a softer blow than it sounds, because Roth dollars are the pleasantest kind to hold late in life: no RMDs, no tax stacking on top of Social Security, and nothing to drag your Medicare premiums across an IRMAA line.
The sharp edge is procedural: if your wages are over the threshold and your plan simply has no Roth option, you cannot make catch-up contributions at all. Not pre-tax, not anything, until the plan adds a Roth source. If that is you, the most valuable retirement move available this month is an email to HR, because it restores $8,000 to $11,250 a year of contribution room that is currently locked. And whichever side of the line you are on, the catch-up years reward showing up: the money going in during your late 50s and 60s has less time than your 30s money had, but there is more of it allowed, your earning power is at its peak, and as the example shows, seven years of it is still a high-five-figure difference.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 401k catch-up contribution for 2026?
$8,000 on top of the $24,500 base limit for anyone who turns 50 or older during 2026, for a $32,500 employee total. Those turning 60 through 63 get a larger $11,250 super catch-up instead, for $35,750. Figures are from IRS Notice 2025-67.
What is the super catch-up for ages 60 to 63?
A SECURE 2.0 provision that raises the catch-up to $11,250 for the four years in which you turn 60, 61, 62, and 63. It closes with the year you turn 64, when the catch-up drops back to the standard amount, which surprises people who assume limits only ever rise with age.
Do my catch-up contributions have to be Roth now?
Starting in 2026, yes, if your prior-year FICA wages at the employer sponsoring the plan were over $150,000. The catch-up amount is unchanged; only its tax character changes, to after-tax in and tax-free out. At or under the threshold, you choose pre-tax or Roth as before.
What if my plan has no Roth option and I earn over the threshold?
Then you cannot make catch-up contributions at all until the plan adds a Roth source; the rule does not let high earners fall back to pre-tax. If this is you, asking your employer to add a Roth option is worth $8,000 to $11,250 a year of contribution room.
Does the $150,000 test count all my income?
No, only FICA wages from the employer sponsoring the plan, measured in the prior year. Income from a different job, investments, or a business does not count, a new employer resets the test, and the self-employed with no W-2 wages are outside the rule entirely.
When do I become eligible for catch-up contributions?
The calendar year you turn 50, from January 1 of that year, months before the birthday itself. The same whole-year logic runs the super window: the year you turn 60 the bigger limit applies all year, and the year you turn 64 it is already gone.
Is a Roth catch-up worse than a pre-tax one?
You give up this year's deduction, which stings at a high income. In exchange the money and its growth come out tax-free, with no RMDs and no stacking on top of Social Security or Medicare IRMAA math later. For many people in their 60s that trade is closer to even than the lost deduction makes it feel, and flexibility favors the Roth side.
Do catch-up limits apply to IRAs too?
IRAs have their own, smaller version: for 2026 the IRA limit is $7,500 with an extra $1,100 for those 50 and older. The 401k catch-up and the IRA catch-up are separate allowances, and a person over 50 can use both in the same year.
Are catch-up contributions actually worth it this late?
The example on this page puts $69,000 of catch-ups in between ages 60 and 66 and gets $89,129.01 by 67 at a 6% return. Late money has less time, but there is more of it allowed and your earning power is at its peak; the catch-up years routinely add a high five-figure sum that would otherwise not exist.