401(k) Contribution Limits (2026): The Four-Year Window at 60

Most coverage of the new limits stops at the headline number. The more useful part is the shape of the catch-up rules, because they briefly go up and then come back down, and that is the one part of a contribution limit you can actually plan around.

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

$24,500, up from $23,500 in 2025. That is the limit on what you defer from your own pay.

It is a single limit across plan types rather than one per plan. Section 402(g) covers 401(k), 403(b), most 457(b) plans and the federal Thrift Savings Plan together, so two jobs with two plans do not give you two limits. Employer money is governed separately, which is the next section.

Why is the catch-up bigger between 60 and 63?

Because SECURE 2.0 wrote a larger catch-up for exactly that age band, and nothing phases it in or out.

The ordinary catch-up at 50 and over is $8,000 for 2026. In the years you turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 it is $11,250 instead, a figure that did not move from 2025. The year you turn 64 it reverts. So the extra room is $3,250 a year for four years, or $13,000 of deferral space that exists only in that window and cannot be carried forward or claimed late.

That is the one genuinely actionable thing in the 2026 numbers. If you are approaching 60 and choosing which years to push hardest, the four years from 60 to 63 hold more room than any other years of your working life.

How much can go into a 401(k) in total?

$72,000 in 2026, up from $70,000. Your own deferrals are about a third of that.

The section 415(c) limit covers everything that lands in the account for the year: your deferrals, the employer match, profit sharing and any after-tax contributions. Catch-up contributions are not counted against it, so someone aged 60 to 63 with a generous plan could see $83,250 go in across all sources.

The gap matters because it is not yours to claim. Whether any of that $47,500 gets used is decided by your employer's plan design, not by you. Reading the total limit as a personal target is the most common misreading of these numbers.

What is the IRA limit for 2026?

$7,500, up from $7,000, plus a $1,100 catch-up at 50 and over. It is separate from your 401(k) room.

Maxing a workplace plan does not consume IRA room and the reverse is also true. Whether your IRA contribution is deductible is a different question that depends on your income and on whether a workplace plan covers you, but the contribution limit itself stands on its own.

What else moved for 2026?

The compensation limit and the small-employer plan limits, both of which change what a match is worth.

• Compensation limit: $360,000, up from $350,000. A plan cannot count pay above this when working out contributions, so a percentage match stops growing here.
• SIMPLE plan deferral: $17,000, up from $16,500, with a $4,000 catch-up, up from $3,500.
• Defined benefit annual limit: $290,000, up from $280,000.
• Key employee threshold: $235,000, up from $230,000.

The compensation limit is the one worth checking against your own pay. If you earn more than $360,000, your match is calculated as though you earn $360,000, and the percentage you see quoted in the plan document quietly stops applying to the rest.

Where the Canadian equivalent differs

Canada has no 401(k). The closest thing is an RRSP, and it is built on a different principle.

A 401(k) limit is a flat dollar figure that applies to almost everyone. An RRSP limit is 18% of what you earned the year before, capped at a dollar figure that most contributors never reach, and unused room carries forward indefinitely. Neither of those three features has a US equivalent, which is why the Canadian guide to contribution room is a different article rather than this one with the numbers swapped.

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