401k Contribution Limits 2027
The IRS has not announced the 2027 limits yet. Computed from the statute and inflation data, the 2027 401(k) employee deferral limit should be $25,500 (up from $24,500), with a $8,500 catch-up for workers 50 and older. The same method reproduces every official limit from 2018 to 2026.
Maintained by Archie Chang · Limits computed from statute and BLS data October 23, 2026 · Methodology & sources
Status: computed, not official. The IRS usually announces next year's retirement plan limits between late October and mid-November (the 2026 limits came out on November 13, 2025; the 2023 limits on October 21, 2022). Until then, every 2027 figure here is our computation, and this page will be updated with the official numbers as soon as they are published. Watch the IRS newsroom or read the 2026 announcement for comparison. Not affiliated with the IRS; this is general information, not tax advice.
2027 401(k) limits compared with 2026
| Limit | 2027 | Status | 2026 (official) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee deferral: 401(k), 403(b), most 457(b), TSP | $25,500 | Computed until the IRS publishes its notice | $24,500 |
| Catch-up, age 50 and older | $8,500 | Computed until the IRS publishes its notice | $8,000 |
| Catch-up, ages 60 to 63 | $11,750 | Computed until the IRS publishes its notice | $11,250 |
| Total annual additions, defined contribution plan | $75,000 | Computed until the IRS publishes its notice | $72,000 |
| Compensation limit for plan purposes | $375,000 | Computed until the IRS publishes its notice | $360,000 |
| Highly compensated employee threshold | $170,000 | Computed until the IRS publishes its notice | $160,000 |
| Roth catch-up wage threshold (2026 wages for 2027; 2025 wages shown for 2026) | $155,000 | Computed until the IRS publishes its notice | $150,000 |
A worker 50 or older could defer up to $34,000 in 2027, or $37,250 at ages 60 to 63. Employer matching and profit sharing count toward the separate annual additions limit, not the employee deferral limit. For the official 2026 numbers see 401(k) and IRA contribution limits 2026.
2027 deferral calculator
Computed from the statute, not yet confirmed by the IRS. Results update when the official 2027 limits are announced.
- Base limit
- $25,500
- Plus no catch-up
- $0
- Most you can defer in 2027
- $25,500
- Share of your salary
- 21.25%
To max out in 26 paychecks
$980.76
per paycheck
Make the last paycheck $981.00 so the year adds up exactly.
The limit applies to your own deferrals across all plans, not per employer. Your plan can set a lower limit. Employer contributions are separate.
IRA and SIMPLE limits for 2027
| Limit | 2027 | Status | 2026 (official) |
|---|---|---|---|
| IRA limit (traditional and Roth combined) | $7,500 | Computed until the IRS publishes its notice | $7,500 |
| IRA catch-up, age 50 and older | $1,100 | Computed until the IRS publishes its notice | $1,100 |
| SIMPLE IRA and SIMPLE 401(k) deferral | $17,500 | Computed until the IRS publishes its notice | $17,000 |
| SIMPLE catch-up, age 50 and older | $4,000 | Computed until the IRS publishes its notice | $4,000 |
| SIMPLE catch-up, ages 60 to 63 | $5,250 | Computed until the IRS publishes its notice | $5,250 |
| SIMPLE deferral, higher limit (small employers) | $19,100 | Computed until the IRS publishes its notice | $18,100 |
| SIMPLE catch-up, higher limit (small employers) | $3,850 | Computed until the IRS publishes its notice | $3,850 |
The IRA limit covers traditional and Roth IRAs combined. Income phase-outs are set separately and are not computed here. The higher SIMPLE limits apply to employers with 25 or fewer employees, or those that elect them.
Catch-up rules for 2027
Age 50 and older: you can add the regular catch-up if you turn 50 by December 31, 2027. It is $8,500 on top of the $25,500 limit.
Ages 60 to 63: under SECURE 2.0, if you turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 in 2027 you get the larger of $10,000 or 150% of the 2024 catch-up ($7,500) instead, which was $11,250 in 2025 and 2026. It is indexed from the third quarter of 2024 in $500 steps of the increase, and we compute $11,750 for 2027. At 64 the regular catch-up applies again.
Roth catch-up rule: starting in 2026, if your Social Security wages from the employer in the prior year were above a threshold ($150,000 for 2025 wages), your catch-up contributions must go in as Roth. We compute $155,000 for 2026 wages, which would apply to 2027 catch-up contributions. SIMPLE IRAs and SEPs are exempt (SIMPLE 401(k) plans are not), and plans must offer a Roth option.
Back-test: the method reproduces every official limit from 2018 to 2026
Section 415(d) adjusts limits by the CPI-U increase for the quarter ending September 30 of the prior year over a statutory base quarter. We scale each base amount by the July to September average and round the increase down to the statutory step. IRA limits use the section 1(f)(3) adjustment instead (a 12-month average ending in August). Against the IRS notices, all 85 year-by-limit comparisons match exactly.
| Limit (computed = official) | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employee deferral: 401(k), 403(b), most 457(b), TSP | $18,500 | $19,000 | $19,500 | $19,500 | $20,500 | $22,500 | $23,000 | $23,500 | $24,500 |
| Catch-up, age 50 and older | $6,000 | $6,000 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $7,500 | $7,500 | $7,500 | $8,000 |
| Catch-up, ages 60 to 63 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | $11,250 | $11,250 |
| Total annual additions, defined contribution plan | $55,000 | $56,000 | $57,000 | $58,000 | $61,000 | $66,000 | $69,000 | $70,000 | $72,000 |
| Compensation limit for plan purposes | $275,000 | $280,000 | $285,000 | $290,000 | $305,000 | $330,000 | $345,000 | $350,000 | $360,000 |
| Highly compensated employee threshold | $120,000 | $125,000 | $130,000 | $130,000 | $135,000 | $150,000 | $155,000 | $160,000 | $160,000 |
| IRA limit (traditional and Roth combined) | $5,500 | $6,000 | $6,000 | $6,000 | $6,000 | $6,500 | $7,000 | $7,000 | $7,500 |
| IRA catch-up, age 50 and older | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,100 |
| SIMPLE IRA and SIMPLE 401(k) deferral | $12,500 | $13,000 | $13,500 | $13,500 | $14,000 | $15,500 | $16,000 | $16,500 | $17,000 |
| SIMPLE catch-up, age 50 and older | $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,500 | $3,500 | $3,500 | $4,000 |
Some amounts have a short history. The age 60 to 63 catch-up has one indexed year (2026), the Roth wage threshold two (2024 and 2025) and the higher SIMPLE limits two (2025 and 2026), so those are checked against fewer data points than the rest.
The closest any back-tested amount came to a rounding boundary was $1.37 (SIMPLE catch-up, age 50 and older, 2025), and every computed 2027 amount sits at least $15.39 inside its rounding step.
CPI data behind the 2027 numbers
Series CUUR0000SA0 (CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted), retrieved October 23, 2026 from the BLS public API. All three months of July to September 2026 are published, so the 401(k), catch-up and SIMPLE amounts do not depend on the missing October 2025 CPI.
| Quarter | July | August | September | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July to September 2005 | 195.400 | 196.400 | 198.800 | 196.867 |
| July to September 2023 | 305.691 | 307.026 | 307.789 | 306.835 |
| July to September 2024 | 314.540 | 314.796 | 315.301 | 314.879 |
| July to September 2025 | 323.048 | 323.976 | 324.800 | 323.941 |
| July to September 2026 | 333.918 | 334.980 | 336.940 | 335.279 |
The IRA limits use a 12-month average that includes October 2025, which BLS did not publish because of the federal funding lapse. We computed it with only the 11 published months and with October filled in as the average of September and November. Both give an IRA limit of $7,500 and an IRA catch-up of $1,100. The IRA calculation uses the chained CPI (BLS series SUUR0000SA0) as the law requires since 2018, scaled to the statutory base year.
401(k) contribution limits 2027 questions
What is the 401(k) contribution limit for 2027?
The IRS has not announced it yet. Computed from the statute and BLS inflation data, the 2027 employee deferral limit for 401(k), 403(b), most 457(b) plans and the TSP should be $25,500, up from $24,500 in 2026. The same method matches every official limit from 2018 to 2026.
What is the 2027 401(k) catch-up limit for age 50 and older?
Computed at $8,500, up from $8,000, for a total of $34,000 at age 50 or older. Workers who turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 in 2027 get a higher catch-up instead, computed at $11,750 ($11,250 in 2026).
What is the IRA contribution limit for 2027?
Computed at $7,500, the same as 2026, plus $1,100 for people 50 and older. The limit moves in $500 steps and inflation has not yet reached the next one.
How is the 2027 401(k) limit calculated?
Section 402(g) starts from $15,000 and indexes it to the CPI-U average for the July to September quarter, measured from 2005, rounding any increase down to a multiple of $500. A July to September 2026 average of 335.279 against 196.867 in 2005 gives about $25,546, which rounds down to $25,500.
Does the missing October 2025 inflation figure change these numbers?
Not for the 401(k), catch-up and SIMPLE limits, which use only July to September data, all published for 2026. The IRA limits use a 12-month average that includes October 2025, which BLS did not publish. We computed it with and without a filled-in October, and both IRA amounts come out the same either way.
When will the IRS announce the 2027 retirement plan limits?
Usually between late October and mid-November: the 2026 limits came out on November 13, 2025 (IR-2025-111 and Notice 2025-67), and the 2023 limits on October 21, 2022. We will replace the computed figures with the official ones as soon as they are published.
Do I have to make catch-up contributions as Roth in 2027?
Only if your Social Security wages from that employer in the prior year were above the Roth catch-up wage threshold, which was $150,000 for 2025 wages and is computed at $155,000 for 2026 wages. SIMPLE IRAs and SEPs are exempt; SIMPLE 401(k) plans are not.
Authoritative sources: IRS newsroom · IRS Notice 2025-67 (2026 limits) · 26 U.S.C. 415(d) · 26 U.S.C. 402(g) · 26 U.S.C. 414(v) · 26 U.S.C. 408(p) · 26 U.S.C. 219(b) · 26 U.S.C. 401(a)(17) · BLS CPI-U