How much can I put in my 401(k) in 2026, and am I getting the full match?
See your 2026 401(k) limit, how much employer match you are leaving unclaimed, what a pre-tax or Roth contribution costs, and what it grows to.
MATCH LEFT ON THE TABLEMATCH LEFT
$4,350a year
At these inputs you put in $4,350 a year (3% of pay) and your employer adds $4,350 under a match of 100% on the first 6% of pay. Contributing 6% of pay ($8,700) earns the full $8,700 match, so $4,350 a year is left on the table.
You + employer
$8,700
To earn full match
6% · $8,700
2026 limit for you
$24,500
Federal tax saved
$1,044
UNDERSTAND YOUR RESULT
Where your contribution sits against the match and the 2026 limit
Your 401(k) contribution$4k
Full match
2026 limit
You put in $4,350 of a $24,500 limit; earning the full $8,700 match takes $8,700 a year. $20,150 of room is left.
The 2026 limits and which ones apply to you
| Limit | 2026 | For you |
|---|---|---|
| Employee contributions (401(k) and 403(b) combined) | $24,500 | Yes |
| Catch-up, age 50 or older | +$8,000 | Not yet |
| Catch-up, ages 60 to 63 (replaces the $8,000) | +$11,250 | Not yet |
| Total from you and your employer (catch-up extra) | $72,000 | Yes |
| Pay a plan can count for the match | $360,000 | Not reached |
| IRA (traditional and Roth combined) | $7,500 | Income limits apply |
| IRA catch-up, age 50 or older | +$1,100 | Not yet |
| Roth catch-up rule applies above prior-year wages of | $150,000 | No, under 50 |
For 2026 the IRS allows $24,500 in employee contributions, with a catch-up from age 50, and caps everything you and your employer put in at $72,000. The IRA limit is $7,500, plus $1,100 from age 50; whether an IRA contribution is deductible, or a Roth IRA is open to you, depends on your income and on whether you have a plan at work. The employee limit is per person across every employer’s 401(k) or 403(b) this year, and a governmental 457(b) plan has its own limit of the same size.
What contributing enough for the full match adds by retirement
Today’s dollars
Contributing 6% instead of 3% adds $8,700 a year, of which $4,350 is free employer money. Invested until 65 at 7% a year before 3% inflation, that is about $514,777 more in today’s dollars, $257,388 of it from the match.
What the contribution costs in take-home pay
Roth (after tax)
$4k
Traditional (pre-tax)Saves $1,044 of federal tax
$3k
A $4,350 contribution costs $3,306 of take-home pay a year if it is pre-tax ($276 a month, after about $1,044 of federal tax at a 24% bracket) and $4,350 ($363 a month) if it is Roth. For the same $3,306 of take-home pay, a pre-tax account gets $4,350 and a Roth account $3,306; pre-tax withdrawals are taxed in retirement and Roth withdrawals are not.
What moves the needle
Each row re-runs the calculation with one change. Click to apply.How it's computed
FORMULA
Contribution = pay × contribution %, up to your 2026 limit
Match = match rate × min(contribution, match cap × pay)
Pre-tax tax saved ≈ deductible contribution × your bracket
Balance = deposit × ((1 + r)ⁿ − 1) ÷ r, with r the monthly return after inflation
- Your 2026 limit is $24,500 (IRS Notice 2025-67); a catch-up starts at age 50. Your plan may set lower limits.
- The match is 100% of what you contribute, up to 6% of pay, on pay up to $360,000, and is treated as fully vested. Plans differ: some use tiers, and some match each paycheck without a year-end true-up.
- Catch-up contributions, and the Roth catch-up rule that can apply to them, start at age 50.
- A pre-tax contribution saves your 24% bracket rate on the deductible amount (federal only; a large deduction can pull the top slice into a lower bracket). A Roth contribution saves nothing now. Social Security and Medicare tax apply either way.
- IRAs: with a plan at work, the traditional IRA deduction phases out between $81,000 and $91,000 of income for a single filer and between $129,000 and $149,000 for a married couple filing jointly. A Roth IRA phases out between $153,000 and $168,000 (single) and $242,000 and $252,000 (joint), on modified adjusted gross income.
- The projection deposits your contribution plus the match in equal monthly amounts until age 65, at 7% a year before 3% inflation (3.88% after), in today’s dollars. The deposits stay the same in today’s dollars, which means they rise about 3% a year with prices, as if your pay keeps up with inflation; real raises and your current balance are not included.
WORKED EXAMPLE · SAMPLE NUMBERS
Pay $145,000 × 3% = $4,350. Match = 100% × min($4,350, 6% × $145,000 = $8,700) = $4,350. The full match needs $8,700 and pays $8,700, so $4,350 is left. A pre-tax contribution saves about $4,350 × 24% = $1,044 of federal tax; the $8,700 a year that goes in (you plus the match) grows to $514,777 by 65 in today’s dollars.
SOURCES
[1]Notice 2025-67: 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted for Changes in Cost-of-LivingInternal Revenue Service[2]401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA limit increases to $7,500Internal Revenue Service news release, November 2025[3]Catch-Up Contributions (final regulations, T.D. 10033), 90 Fed. Reg. 44,527Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service, September 16, 2025[4]Retirement topics: 457(b) contribution limitsInternal Revenue Service[5]Retirement topics: VestingInternal Revenue ServiceHSBuilt by Hussain Sehorewala · checked against worked examples · Sep 29, 2026
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Questions about this result
The IRS limit on employee contributions is $24,500 in 2026. At 50 or older you can add a catch-up of $8,000, and at 60, 61, 62 or 63 the catch-up is $11,250 instead. The total from you and your employer, not counting catch-up, is capped at $72,000 or your pay, whichever is less (IRS Notice 2025-67). Your plan can set lower limits.
If you are 50 or older and your Social Security wages from the employer that sponsors the plan were above $150,000 in 2025 (W-2 box 3), your catch-up contributions must be Roth, which means after tax. Contributions up to $24,500 can still be pre-tax. The final regulations apply to tax years beginning after December 31, 2026, and plans must follow a reasonable good-faith reading of the law before then, so ask your plan administrator how yours handles 2026. A plan that covers people affected by the rule must offer a Roth option for catch-up contributions, or it cannot accept catch-up contributions at all. The rule does not apply to SEP or SIMPLE IRAs.
The employer adds money when you contribute, usually a percentage of what you put in up to a cap set as a share of pay. “50% of the first 6%” means you contribute 6% of pay and the employer adds 3%. Enter the rate and the cap here. A plan can only count pay up to $360,000 when it works out the match. Some plans match each paycheck with no year-end true-up, so reaching the limit early in the year can stop later matching; check yours.
It is part of your pay package, but the plan may make you stay to keep it. Your own contributions are always 100% yours. Employer contributions can vest over time, for example 100% after 3 years of service or 20% a year from year 2 until 100% in year 6 (IRS, Retirement topics: Vesting). If you leave before you are vested, part of the match can be forfeited. This page treats the match as fully vested.
A pre-tax contribution lowers this year’s taxable income: at a 24% federal bracket, each $1,000 costs about $760 of take-home pay before any state tax saving. A Roth contribution costs the full $1,000 but comes out tax-free in retirement if the rules are met. Pre-tax tends to favor people who expect a lower bracket in retirement than now, and Roth people who expect a higher one. The tax bracket calculator shows your bracket.
No. Pre-tax 401(k) contributions lower federal income tax, and usually state income tax, but Social Security and Medicare taxes are still withheld on those wages. Roth contributions do not lower income tax in the year you make them.
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