# 401(k) Contribution Limits for 2027

> The IRS hasn't set the 2027 401(k) limits yet. Here are the 2026 limits, when and how 2027's get set, the latest forecast, and the new Roth catch-up rule.

Source: https://mycoastfire.com/401k-contribution-limits-2027
Last updated: 2026-09-26

The IRS hasn't announced the 2027 401(k) and IRA limits yet. It usually does in late October or early November, and until then the 2026 limits are the only official numbers.

The IRS hasn’t announced the 2027 401(k) limits. For now the official numbers are the 2026 ones: $24,500 of your own contributions, plus $8,000 in catch-up contributions from age 50, or $11,250 if you’re between 60 and 63. The 2027 limits should arrive in late October or early November 2026, and Milliman’s latest forecast puts the base limit at $25,500.

**Last checked September 26, 2026:** no 2027 limits on IRS.gov yet. This page will be updated the day the IRS announces them.

## The 2026 limits you can use now

All of these come from [IRS Notice 2025-67](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-25-67.pdf) and the [IRS announcement](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/401k-limit-increases-to-24500-for-2026-ira-limit-increases-to-7500) that went with it.

| Limit | 2026 |
| --- | --- |
| Your own contributions to a 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b) or TSP | $24,500 |
| Catch-up at 50 or older | $8,000 |
| Catch-up if you turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 this year | $11,250 |
| Total from all sources (the 415(c) limit), before catch-ups | $72,000 |
| IRA (traditional and Roth combined) | $7,500 |
| IRA catch-up at 50 or older | $1,100 |
| SIMPLE IRA or SIMPLE 401(k), most plans | $17,000 |
| SIMPLE catch-up at 50 or older, most plans | $4,000 |
| SIMPLE catch-up if you turn 60 to 63 this year | $5,250 |
| Prior-year wages that trigger the Roth catch-up rule | $150,000 |

Put together, someone 50 or older can defer $32,500 of their own pay in 2026, and someone turning 60 to 63 can defer $35,750.

A few rules decide how these stack. The $24,500 is a personal limit that covers all your 401(k) and 403(b) deferrals combined, even across different employers. A 457(b) is the exception: it has its own separate limit, so a teacher or city employee with both a 403(b) and a 457(b) can put $24,500 into each ([IRS](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/how-much-salary-can-you-defer-if-youre-eligible-for-more-than-one-retirement-plan)). The age-50 catch-up on a 457(b) is only available in governmental plans.

The $72,000 total covers your deferrals plus your employer’s match and any other employer money. Catch-up contributions sit on top of it, so the IRS gives the total as $80,000 with catch-ups included, or up to $83,250 for someone 60 to 63 ([IRS](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-401k-and-profit-sharing-plan-contribution-limits)). The gap between your own deferrals plus the match and that total is the room people use for the mega backdoor Roth, if their plan allows it.

Timing differs too. 401(k) contributions have to come out of a paycheck during the plan year, while IRA contributions for 2026 can be made until your April 2027 filing deadline, not counting extensions ([IRS](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-catch-up-contributions)).

## When will the IRS announce the 2027 limits?

Probably in late October or the first half of November. The 2025 limits were announced on [November 1, 2024](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/news-releases-for-november-2024), and the 2026 limits came on November 13, 2025.

The IRS can’t announce them sooner, because the formula needs inflation data for July, August and September, and the September consumer price index isn’t released until mid-October. Milliman lists the release as [scheduled for October 14, 2026](https://www.milliman.com/en/insight/2027-irs-limits-forecast-august). That’s also why the [2027 HSA limits](https://mycoastfire.com/hsa-contribution-limits-2027) are already out: they use a formula that looks at inflation through March.

## How the 2027 limits get calculated

The 401(k) family of limits is tied to section 415(d) of the tax code. Each year the IRS compares the price index for the July-to-September quarter with a fixed base quarter, using a procedure similar to the one Social Security uses for its cost-of-living adjustment ([26 U.S.C. § 415(d)](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section415&num=0&edition=prelim)). Then it rounds down:

-   The $24,500 deferral limit and the age-50 catch-up move only in $500 steps, and any increase is rounded down to the next $500 ([§ 402(g)(4)](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section402&num=0&edition=prelim) and [§ 414(v)(2)(C)](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section414&num=0&edition=prelim)).
-   The 60-to-63 catch-up is indexed from 2026 onward, also rounded down to $500.
-   The $72,000 total is rounded down to the next $1,000.
-   The Roth catch-up wage threshold is rounded down to the next $5,000.

The IRA limits follow a different index, the one used for the tax brackets. The $7,500 limit is rounded down to a multiple of $500, and the $1,100 catch-up to a multiple of $100 ([§ 219(b)(5)](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section219&num=0&edition=prelim)).

Rounding down is why a limit can sit still for a year even with inflation running. The 60-to-63 catch-up stayed at $11,250 for 2026, and so did the $160,000 threshold for highly compensated employees. It also means a small difference in one month’s inflation number can decide whether the base limit rises by $500 or $1,000.

## What forecasters expect for 2027

These are forecasts, not IRS figures. Milliman, an actuarial firm that publishes a monthly projection, put out its [latest forecast](https://www.milliman.com/en/insight/2027-irs-limits-forecast-august) in September 2026, using actual inflation through August and an estimate for September.

| Limit | 2026 (official) | 2027 (Milliman forecast) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 401(k), 403(b), 457(b) deferral | $24,500 | $25,500 |
| Catch-up at 50 or older | $8,000 | $8,500 |
| Catch-up at 60 to 63 | $11,250 | $11,750 |
| Total from all sources (415(c)) | $72,000 | $75,000 |
| Roth catch-up wage threshold | $150,000 | $155,000 |

Milliman flags one condition. If prices rise less than 0.04% in September, the deferral limit would go up only to $25,000 and the age-50 catch-up would stay at $8,000. Its table doesn’t cover IRA limits, so I haven’t included a forecast for those.

I’d plan around $25,000 and treat anything above that as a bonus. If you set your 2027 contribution as a percentage of pay and aim to max out, check the math again once the real number is out.

## The Roth catch-up rule for high earners

Starting in 2026, if your FICA wages from the employer that sponsors your plan were more than $150,000 in the prior year, any catch-up contributions you make to that plan have to go in as Roth ([IRS](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-catch-up-contributions)). For 2026 that means your 2025 wages. Your regular $24,500 can still be pre-tax. Only the catch-up has to be Roth.

The threshold started at $145,000 in the law and is indexed in $5,000 steps ([§ 414(v)(7)](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section414&num=0&edition=prelim)). For 2027 catch-ups, the test will use your 2026 wages against whatever threshold the IRS announces this fall. Milliman’s forecast is $155,000.

A few details matter here. The test looks at wages from the employer sponsoring the plan, so income from a side business doesn’t count. SIMPLE IRA and SEP plans are exempt from the rule. If your plan has no Roth option at all, you may not be able to make catch-up contributions once you’re over the threshold, so ask your plan administrator. The IRS’s [final regulations](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-issue-final-regulations-on-new-roth-catch-up-rule-other-secure-2point0-act-provisions) formally take effect in 2027, and for 2026 plans can apply the rule using a reasonable, good-faith reading of the law. Some governmental and union plans have later dates.

For most people this rule is less painful than it sounds. You lose the deduction on the catch-up, but the money grows tax-free and, once you’re 59½ and the account is five years old, comes out tax-free. If you expect to be in a lower bracket in retirement it costs you something; if you’re a high earner in a high-tax state planning to retire somewhere cheaper, it costs more. Our post on [Coast FIRE for tech workers](https://mycoastfire.com/blog/coast-fire-for-tech-workers) covers the other accounts people in that income range use.

## The super catch-up from 60 to 63

Since 2025, people who turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 during the year get a higher catch-up limit: $11,250 for 2026 instead of $8,000. The year you turn 64 you drop back to the regular catch-up. So someone born in 1966 turns 60 in 2026 and gets the higher limit for 2026 through 2029.

It’s a four-year window, and for a lot of people it lines up with the years when the kids are through college and there’s finally room in the budget. Plans aren’t required to offer catch-up contributions, so check that yours does. If you’re over the Roth threshold, the super catch-up has to be Roth too.

## Does an extra $1,000 a year matter?

Somewhat, if you’re already maxing out. Take Sam, 32, who has $90,000 saved, contributes the full $24,500 a year, and wants to spend $60,000 a year from 65. With the site’s defaults of a 7% return, 3% inflation and a 4% withdrawal rate, his Coast FIRE number today is $426,634, and he’d reach it at 51. If he raises his contribution to $25,500 to match the forecast 2027 limit, he gets there at 50 instead.

That assumes he keeps contributing the same amount every year, so it’s a rough picture. For most people, though, the limit isn’t what’s holding them back. Getting the full employer match, and then raising your contribution rate by a point or two a year, will move your date more than any IRS announcement. The [Coast FIRE 401(k) calculator](https://mycoastfire.com/coast-fire-401k-calculator) shows how to enter your 401(k), your match and the tax you’ll owe on pre-tax money.

Sam, maxing his 401(k)

$24,500 a year is about $2,042 a month. Change it to your own numbers to see your coast age.

[Open the calculator with these numbers](https://mycoastfire.com/?age=32&assets=90000&contrib=2042)

## Questions people ask

### Has the IRS announced the 2027 401(k) limit?

Not as of September 26, 2026. The IRS needs the September inflation figures, which come out in mid-October, before it can do the math. The 2026 limits were announced on November 13, 2025, and the 2025 limits on November 1, 2024.

### What is the 401(k) limit for 2026?

$24,500 of your own contributions, plus $8,000 in catch-up contributions if you're 50 or older, or $11,250 if you turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 during the year. Those limits also cover 403(b) plans, governmental 457(b) plans and the Thrift Savings Plan.

### Does my employer's match count toward the $24,500?

No. The $24,500 limit covers only your own elective deferrals. Your employer's match counts toward the separate total limit on everything that goes into your account, which is $72,000 for 2026 before catch-up contributions.

### Can I contribute to a 401(k) and an IRA in the same year?

Yes. The IRA limit is separate, so in 2026 you can put $24,500 into a 401(k) and $7,500 into an IRA. Being covered by a workplace plan can limit whether your traditional IRA contribution is deductible, and income limits apply to Roth IRA contributions.

## Keep reading

-   [Coast FIRE 401(k) calculatorSee whether your 401(k) is already enough.](https://mycoastfire.com/coast-fire-401k-calculator)
-   [HSA limits for 2027Already set: $4,500 and $9,000.](https://mycoastfire.com/hsa-contribution-limits-2027)
-   [Coast FIRE for tech workersRSUs, the mega backdoor Roth and the Roth catch-up.](https://mycoastfire.com/blog/coast-fire-for-tech-workers)