401(k) Catch-Up Contributions in 2026: Age 50+, the Super Catch-Up, and the New Roth Rule
Workers who are 50 or older at any point in 2026 can contribute an extra $8,000 to a 401(k) beyond the $24,500 deferral limit. Workers aged 60 through 63 at year end get a larger “super” catch-up of $11,250 instead. New for 2026, if your 2025 wages from your employer exceeded $150,000, your catch-up contributions must be Roth.
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$8,000
Age 50+ catch-up ($32,500 total deferrals) · $11,250 super catch-up at ages 60–63 ($35,750 total) · Roth-only if 2025 FICA wages exceeded $150,000
Source: IRC §414(v); IRS Notice 2025-67; SECURE 2.0 §§109, 603
Catch-up eligibility: the year you turn 50
Eligibility starts in the calendar year you turn 50, not on your birthday. If you turn 50 on December 31, 2026, you can make catch-up contributions all the way through 2026, including in January (IRC §414(v)). That is genuinely useful if you are trying to save more in your last working decade.
Payroll systems apply the rule the same way, since eligibility is based on the age you reach by year end. There is no reason to wait for the birthday itself before raising your deferral election.
Nearly every employer plan permits catch-up contributions, but it is technically an optional plan feature rather than something the law requires. Your plan document controls. If the option does not appear in your deferral elections, ask your administrator before assuming it is missing.
What is the 401(k) super catch-up for ages 60–63?
SECURE 2.0 created an enhanced catch-up limit for workers in a four-year window near retirement. For 2026, participants who are age 60, 61, 62, or 63 at the end of the year can make catch-up contributions of up to $11,250 instead of $8,000 (IRC §414(v)(2)(E) and IRS Notice 2025-67). That raises the total deferral ceiling to $35,750 for those four years.
The window is defined entirely by your age on December 31.
- The year you turn 60 through the year you turn 63. You get the $11,250 super catch-up.
- The year you turn 64 and every year after. You revert to the standard catch-up, which is $8,000 for 2026. The super catch-up is a temporary boost rather than a permanent upgrade, so it is worth using while you have it.
The super catch-up first applied in 2025 and stays at $11,250 for 2026. Plans may adopt it but are not required to. If yours has not, you are limited to the standard $8,000 even at 61.
| Your age at the end of 2026 | Catch-up available | Max you can defer from your paycheck | Max total in the account (with employer money) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 50 | None | $24,500 | $72,000 |
| 50 to 59 | $8,000 | $32,500 | $80,000 |
| 60 to 63 | $11,250 super catch-up | $35,750 | $83,250 |
| 64 and older | $8,000 | $32,500 | $80,000 |
The last column is the legal ceiling on everything that can land in one employer’s plan for you in 2026, combining your deferrals, the employer match, profit sharing, and after-tax contributions. It is the $72,000 415(c) limit plus your catch-up, because catch-up money sits above that ceiling rather than inside it. Very few people reach it, so treat the column as the outer boundary rather than a target.
The 2026 Roth catch-up mandate: who it hits and how
Full detail, edge cases, and worked tax math live on our page about the 2026 Roth catch-up rule. Here is the short version and who needs to act.
Starting with contributions made in 2026, catch-up contributions have to go into a Roth (after-tax) source if your FICA wages from your employer in the prior year exceeded $150,000 (SECURE 2.0 §603 and IRS Notice 2025-67). For 2026, that means your 2025 wages from that employer.
This rule is not new law, even though it feels new. Congress enacted it in 2022, and the IRS then granted a two-year administrative transition covering 2024 and 2025 so payroll systems could catch up. That transition is over, and 2026 is the first year the mandate actually bites.
Here is what it means in practice.
- 2025 wages from this employer of $150,000 or less. Nothing changes for you. Choose pre-tax or Roth catch-ups as before, if your plan offers both.
- 2025 wages from this employer above $150,000. Every catch-up dollar in 2026 has to be designated Roth. You pay tax on that money now, and qualified withdrawals later come out tax-free. Your regular $24,500 in deferrals can still be pre-tax, so only the catch-up layer is affected.
- The test is per employer and looks only at prior-year wages. If you joined your current employer during 2026, you have no 2025 wages from that employer, so the mandate generally does not apply to you there for 2026.
Plans without a Roth option
This is the sharp edge of the rule, and it is worth checking on before the year gets away from you. If your plan has no Roth source at all, affected high earners cannot make catch-up contributions at all. The law offers no pre-tax fallback, so the room simply disappears.
The fix has to come from the plan. It must add a Roth feature for its participants earning over $150,000 to keep their catch-up room. Most large plans already offer Roth 401(k) contributions, and recordkeepers pushed the remaining plans hard to add it ahead of 2026. If yours has not, raise it with HR now, because every year without it costs affected savers up to $8,000, or $11,250, of contribution room.
Some plans handle the mechanics with what is called a “deemed Roth” election. If you are subject to the mandate and you elect catch-up contributions, the plan automatically designates them Roth without asking you again. Your plan’s approach is purely administrative, and the outcome for you is the same either way.
Interaction with the 402(g) and 415(c) limits
Catch-up contributions ride on top of both of the big limits, which is the whole point of them (IRC §414(v)).
- They do not count against 402(g). The $24,500 deferral limit is measured before catch-ups are added. That is what the word “catch-up” means, namely deferrals beyond the ordinary cap.
- They do not count against 415(c) either. The $72,000 total-contributions limit also excludes catch-ups. A 50-year-old can therefore see up to $80,000 land in the account in 2026, and a 62-year-old up to $83,250.
The spillover mechanic in payroll
You usually do not elect a separate “catch-up contribution” at all, which surprises people who go looking for the box. At most recordkeepers, including Fidelity, Empower, Vanguard, Principal, and Voya, you simply set your deferral percentage high enough. Once your regular deferrals reach $24,500 for the year, the payroll system automatically reclassifies everything after that as catch-up, a behavior often called “spillover,” until you reach your catch-up limit.
Some plans still use a separate catch-up election instead. It is worth finding out which model yours uses, because the two behave very differently once you hit the base limit.
| Regular 2026 deferral limit | $24,500 (pre-tax or Roth, your choice) |
| Super catch-up (age 61 at year end) | +$11,250, must be Roth (2025 wages > $150,000) |
| Total 2026 employee contributions | $35,750 |
| Room left under the $72,000 415(c) limit | $47,500 for employer and after-tax money (catch-up doesn’t count) |
Frequently asked questions
I turn 50 in December 2026. Can I make catch-up contributions all year?
Yes. Catch-up eligibility applies for the entire calendar year in which you turn 50, no matter which month your birthday falls in. You can defer toward the $32,500 combined limit starting with your first 2026 paycheck.
What happens to the super catch-up when I turn 64?
You go back to the standard age-50 catch-up of $8,000 for 2026, starting in the year you turn 64. The $11,250 limit applies only in the years you finish at age 60, 61, 62, or 63.
Does the $150,000 Roth trigger count all my income?
No, only the FICA wages paid by the employer that sponsors the plan, in the prior year. Self-employment income, investment income, and wages from a different employer do not count toward that employer’s test. For 2026, the lookback year is 2025.
Do employers match catch-up contributions?
Some do and some do not, since it is a plan design choice. Match formulas often cap out well before catch-up territory anyway. Check your plan’s match formula so you know what to expect, but do not let the absence of a match stop you. The tax benefit of the catch-up stands on its own.
Do catch-up contributions reduce my taxable income?
Pre-tax catch-ups do. Roth catch-ups do not, because you pay the tax now and take qualified withdrawals tax-free later. If your 2025 wages topped $150,000, Roth is your only catch-up option in 2026, so the deduction is off the table for those particular dollars.
Can I make catch-up contributions to an IRA too?
Yes. IRAs have their own separate catch-up on top of the $7,500 IRA limit for 2026, and it is completely independent of your 401(k) catch-up. Using one does not affect the other.
Related reading
- All 401(k) contribution limits for 2026
- The 402(g) deferral limit and what happens if you exceed it
- Roth 401(k): how it works and when it makes sense
Sources: IRS Notice 2025-67 (2026 limits) · IRC §414(v) · IRS: catch-up contributions