Contribution limits are the rare piece of tax news that's purely good and immediately actionable — the ceiling went up, and you can use the extra room today. The 2026 figures are in effect now, for money you contribute during this calendar year, and they'll appear on the return you file in early 2027.
Most coverage stops at listing the numbers. The more useful question is which of these changes are worth acting on, and the answer is narrower than the full list suggests.
The short version: 401(k) deferral limit $24,500 (up $1,000). IRA limit $7,500 (up $500). Catch-up at 50+ is $8,000 for a 401(k) and $1,100 for an IRA. The SECURE 2.0 super catch-up for ages 60–63 is $11,250, taking a 401(k) to $35,750. Standard deduction $32,200 married filing jointly, $16,100 single. Inflation-adjusted parameters rose about 2.7% on average.
Every retirement number that changed
| Limit | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 401(k) / 403(b) / 457 / TSP deferral | $23,500 | $24,500 | +$1,000 |
| 401(k) catch-up, age 50+ | $7,500 | $8,000 | +$500 |
| 401(k) super catch-up, age 60–63 | $11,250 | $11,250 | unchanged |
| IRA (traditional and Roth) | $7,000 | $7,500 | +$500 |
| IRA catch-up, age 50+ | $1,000 | $1,100 | +$100 |
| SIMPLE plan deferral | $16,500 | $17,000 | +$500 |
Which gives these ceilings for 2026:
- Under 50: $24,500 in a 401(k) plus $7,500 in an IRA — $32,000 of tax-advantaged room.
- Age 50–59: $32,500 plus $8,600 — $41,100.
- Age 60–63: $35,750 plus $8,600 — $44,350.
The four-year window almost nobody uses
The super catch-up is the most under-exploited provision in the list. Created by the SECURE 2.0 Act, it replaces the ordinary $8,000 catch-up with $11,250 for savers aged 60, 61, 62 and 63 — and then it goes away. At 64 you drop back to the standard catch-up.
That's an extra $3,250 of deferral per year, available for exactly four years, at the point in most careers when earnings peak and the mortgage is often gone. If you're in or approaching that age band, this is the single highest-value line in the 2026 tables. Using all four years puts $13,000 more into the account than the ordinary catch-up would, before any growth.
One caveat worth checking before you plan around it: under the final regulations issued in September 2025, plans are not required to offer the super catch-up. If a plan does offer it, it must generally make it available to everyone eligible for catch-up contributions — but whether your employer's plan includes the provision at all is a question for your plan administrator, not something you can assume. Employers have until December 31, 2026 to amend plan documents.
Note also that the $11,250 figure is unchanged from 2025. Some earlier projections had it rising to $12,000 for 2026; that didn't happen.
Roth IRA income limits moved up too
The income at which your ability to contribute directly to a Roth IRA starts phasing out has risen:
| Filing status | 2025 phase-out | 2026 phase-out |
|---|---|---|
| Single / head of household | $150,000–$165,000 | $153,000–$168,000 |
| Married filing jointly | $236,000–$246,000 | $242,000–$252,000 |
If your income put you just over the line in 2025, it's worth rechecking — a $3,000 shift in the single-filer threshold is enough to bring some people back into direct-contribution range without their income changing at all.
Standard deduction and brackets
The standard deduction rose to $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, an increase of $700, and $16,100 for single filers. Taxpayers 65 or older can claim more on top: an extra $1,650 per qualifying spouse for married filers, or $2,050 for single filers.
The seven rates are unchanged at 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37% — only the income thresholds moved, rising about 2.7% on average. For single filers the 10% band covers the first $12,400 of taxable income and the 37% rate starts above $640,600; for married couples filing jointly the top rate begins above $768,700. The 2026 adjustments also incorporate amendments from the One Big Beautiful Bill.
The IRS uses the Chained CPI to set these, which rises more slowly than the standard CPI — one reason the adjustments can feel smaller than your own experience of prices.
What the extra room is actually worth
An extra $1,000 a year of 401(k) space sounds minor. Contributed every year and left to compound at 7%, it isn't:
| Years contributing the extra $1,000/yr | Value at 7% |
|---|---|
| 10 years | $13,816 |
| 20 years | $40,995 |
| 30 years | $94,461 |
Thirty years of using the increase — and nothing else — is worth roughly $94,000. The IRA's extra $500 a year adds about $47,230 over the same period. Returns aren't guaranteed and 7% is an assumption rather than a promise, but the shape of the result holds across reasonable rates: at 6% the 30-year figure is $79,058, at 8% it's $113,283.
What to actually do
- Raise your payroll deferral percentage now, not in December. Contributions are per-calendar-year; the later you adjust, the more of the year you've spent at the old rate.
- If you're 59 and employed, diarise the super catch-up. It's four years, it's $3,250 a year, and it's easy to miss because nothing prompts you.
- Recheck Roth eligibility if you were just over the line. The thresholds moved up $3,000 for single filers and $6,000 for joint.
- Don't confuse the deferral limit with the total limit. $24,500 is your own salary deferral; employer match sits on top and is governed by a separate, higher overall cap.