Calculator tax year: 2026. The article below discusses 2027; the embedded calculator uses only 2026 rules and inputs.

401(k) Contribution Limits 2027

Source check: October 28, 2026. The IRS retirement-plan limits table still lists figures through 2026; this review did not find an official 2027 retirement-plan limit announcement. The 2027 column below remains a projection. The embedded calculator uses only the official 2026 employee dollar limits.

The numbers

Limit	2026 (official)	2027 (projected)	Change
Employee deferral, under 50	$24,500	$25,500	+$1,000
Catch-up, ages 50–59 and 64+	$8,000	$8,500	+$500
Catch-up, ages 60–63	$11,250	$11,750	+$500
Employee + employer combined (DC plans)	$72,000	$75,000	+$3,000
Pay counted for matching and testing	$360,000	$375,000	+$15,000

Read the columns differently. The 2026 column is official — those are the numbers in force today. The 2027 column is a projection, not an IRS figure, and it is labeled as one everywhere it appears on this page.

Why the 2027 numbers aren't official yet

Retirement plan limits are indexed to inflation. Once the September Consumer Price Index is final, the IRS has everything it needs, and it publishes annual cost-of-living guidance. The 2026 retirement-plan amounts were issued in Notice 2025-67.

In 2026 that sequence ran like this: September CPI (3.7% year over year) was released on October 14; Milliman published its final forecast on October 15, projecting an increase factor of roughly 3.5% for 2027. Its expectation of an IRS release in the following weeks was a forecast, not a confirmed release date.

The forecast used on this page: Milliman projects $25,500 for the 2027 employee deferral limit. Only a verified IRS announcement can replace the projected figures with official amounts; this page does not promise a same-day update.

How much can you put in?

Tax year 2026 · Local calculation

2026 employee 401(k) dollar limit

Actual allowable contributions also depend on compensation, your employer’s plan and other rules. This tool computes only the federal employee dollar limit.

Tax year

Usually filed in 2027.

Your annual figures are

Enter your own annual totals. This tool does not annualize a pay stub.

Your plan and age

Plan context

Age at the end of 2026

Does your plan allow ordinary catch-up contributions?

Relevant at age 50 or older.

Does your plan allow the higher catch-up for this age group?

Relevant at ages 60–63. The higher allowance replaces ordinary catch-up.

Employee contributions across employers

Enter employee pretax and Roth elective deferrals separately for every employer sharing your personal limit. Enter 0 when none. Employer matches are excluded.

Employer 1

Employee pretax deferrals (USD)

Employee Roth deferrals (USD)

Shared limit and Roth catch-up

Have you included all employee deferrals sharing this limit?

Changing employers does not reset the personal limit. Special plan coordination is outside this tool.

2025 wages for the current plan’s Roth catch-up rule (USD, optional)

Use the wage definition confirmed by payroll/your plan for this rule, not household AGI or automatically W-2 Box 1. Leave blank if unsure. The notice applies only to this current employer; other employers may need separate checks.

Your result

Enter your amounts and confirm the applicable questions, then calculate.

Method and official sources

Employee dollar limit = base limit + applicable catch-up. Remaining dollar limit = max(0, employee dollar limit − all shared pretax and Roth deferrals). The higher catch-up replaces the regular catch-up.

This calculator uses 2026 employee dollar limits only. It does not calculate employer match, payroll contribution rates or 2027 projections. Actual allowable contributions depend on compensation, the plan and other rules.

What counts toward the limit — and what doesn't

Counts toward the employee deferral limit ($25,500 projected for 2027):

Pre-tax (traditional) 401(k) deferrals
Roth 401(k) deferrals
Both at once, if your plan allows splitting

Does not count toward that projected employee deferral limit:

Employer contributions. Your match is theirs, and it counts toward the separate combined cap ($75,000 projected for 2027), not yours.
Your catch-up, if you're eligible. It sits on top of the base limit.

This distinction is where most "I thought the limit was $75,000" confusion comes from. In the article’s 2027 projection, $25,500 is the employee deferral limit and $75,000 is the combined employee/employer limit before applicable catch-up contributions. These are projections, not the 2026 calculator’s limits or a promise of what your plan allows.

Catch-up contributions

If you're 50 or older by the end of the year, you can defer more than the base limit. Two bands apply:

Ages 50–59 and 64+: the standard catch-up amount (projected $8,500 for 2027).
Ages 60–63: a higher catch-up band (projected $11,750 for 2027). This band is newer — it comes from recent retirement legislation — and it's the reason some 60-year-olds can defer meaningfully more than a 64-year-old.

Not all plans offer catch-up. It's optional for employers, so check your plan documents or ask HR before budgeting for it.

Should you max it out?

We don't tell you what to do with your money, but here's the arithmetic framing most people find useful:

The limit is a ceiling, not a target. Contributing the projected 2027 maximum of $25,500 isn't better than contributing $8,000 if the $8,000 is what you can actually afford.
Pre-tax vs Roth is a tax-timing question, not a limit question. Both are subject to one shared employee limit ($25,500 projected for 2027); choosing between them does not create additional room.
The match is the part with a deadline. Employer match usually requires your own contributions in the same period; missing it is the one 401(k) mistake with an immediate, calculable cost.

→ If you're deciding between a 401(k) and an HSA, see HSA contribution limits for 2027. → If you want to know how retirement contributions interact with your refund, our tax refund calculator takes pre-tax deferrals into account in the W-2 Box 1 wages you enter. Payroll pretax 401(k) deferrals are already reflected in Box 1; do not subtract them again. Enter W-2 Box 2 withholding separately.

Frequently asked questions

What is the 2027 401(k) contribution limit? At our October 28, 2026 source check, we did not find an official IRS 2027 announcement. Milliman's October 15 forecast is $25,500 for the employee deferral limit, up $1,000 from the official 2026 figure of $24,500. It remains a projection and is not used by the embedded 2026 calculator.

When does the IRS announce next year's 401(k) limits? The limits depend on inflation data and an IRS announcement; the September CPI release alone does not make a forecast official. Milliman's October 15, 2026 forecast expected an announcement in the following weeks. Our source check did not establish a confirmed 2027 announcement date.

Does the limit include my employer's match? No. Your $25,500 (projected) is your own deferral limit. Employer contributions count toward a separate combined cap — projected at $75,000 for 2027.

Can I contribute to a 401(k) and an IRA in the same year? Yes, and the limits are separate. An IRA limit does not reduce your 401(k) room, and vice versa.

What happens if I over-contribute? If your employee deferrals across employers and plans that share the employee deferral limit exceed your applicable limit after any eligible catch-up, contact your plan administrator promptly. Generally, the excess and allocable earnings must be distributed by April 15 of the following year — April 15, 2027 for 2026 deferrals. Your plan may require an earlier request. Extending your tax return does not extend this correction deadline. See the IRS excess-deferral guidance. For a timely correction, excess pre-tax deferrals are taxable for the year deferred; designated Roth deferrals were already included in income. Earnings are taxable in the year distributed, and a timely corrective distribution is not subject to the 10% early-distribution additional tax. Missing the deadline can cause double taxation. See the IRS Form 1099-R instructions. This describes employee elective-deferral excesses; combined-limit and plan testing failures follow different correction procedures. The calculator does not calculate correction payments or taxes.

Can I change my contribution rate mid-year? Usually yes — most plans let you change your deferral percentage at any time, though some limit the number of changes. Your plan documents control this, not the IRS.

Sources and update log

2026 official figures: IRS Notice 2025-67 and the IRS retirement-plan limits table.
2027 projections: Milliman, 2027 IRS Limits – Final estimates, October 15, 2026. These are private forecasts, not IRS figures.
Inflation release: BLS September 2026 CPI, released October 14, 2026.
Excess employee deferrals: IRS correction guidance and Form 1099-R instructions.
2027 official-source status: not found in this October 28, 2026 review of the IRS limits table and Employee Plans news. Recheck these sources before relying on a 2027 amount.

Version	Date	Change
Source review	October 28, 2026	Checked 2026 official limits, retained labeled 2027 forecasts, and verified excess-deferral guidance. This is a review date, not a launch date.