Are the 2027 401(k) and IRA contribution limits official yet?

No. The IRS publishes retirement-plan and IRA limits in a cost-of-living notice each autumn — the 2026 amounts came in Notice 2025-67 on November 13, 2025 — so expect the official 2027 limits around November 2026. Every non-HSA 2027 figure on this page is a projection computed under the statutory indexing formulas. The 2027 HSA amounts ARE official: Rev. Proc. 2026-24 set them in May 2026.

What is the projected 2027 401(k) contribution limit?

Our central case is $25,500, up from the official $24,500 for 2026 — but this is the least settled number on the page. The unrounded figure sits close to a $500 rounding step, so the low end of our Q3-2026 CPI-U band leaves it at $25,000. The same edge applies to the age-50 catch-up: $8,500 central, $8,000 at the low end.

What happens to the SECURE 2.0 ages 60–63 catch-up in 2027?

It takes its first indexed step. The $11,250 amount is adjusted from a Q3-2024 base with the increase rounded down to $500; in 2026 the cumulative increase was $324 and rounded to zero. By Q3 2026 it clears $500 at any plausible CPI print, putting the 2027 amount at $11,750 across our whole band.

Why do some limits stay flat in 2027 while others jump?

Each limit rounds on its own step — $50, $100, $500, $1,000 or $5,000 — and most statutes round the increase DOWN. A limit only moves when cumulative inflation since its base quarter clears the next step. The IRA limit projects unchanged at $7,500 because its unrounded value (about $7,825) is still inside the $7,500 step, while the §415(c) cap steps $72,000 to $75,000 because its $1,000 step is fine-grained relative to its size.

2027 Retirement Contribution Limits — Official Where Published, Projected Where Not

Every 401(k), 403(b), 457, IRA, HSA, SIMPLE and SEP limit for 2027 beside the official 2026 amount. The HSA family is already official (Rev. Proc. 2026-24). Everything else is computed under its own statutory indexing rule — base quarter, index series and rounding step shown per row — from the CPI prints published so far.

CPI-U central case +3.4% (band 3.2%–3.6%) · C-CPI-U central +3.1% inherited from the 2027 brackets page · 27 rows · Last reviewed 2026-08-13

The IRS has not published 2027 retirement-plan limits. The official numbers arrive in the autumn cost-of-living notice, expected around November 2026 (the 2026 amounts came in Notice 2025-67 on November 13, 2025). Every amber figure below is our own projection under the statutory formula, and two of them — the 401(k) deferral and the age-50 catch-up — sit close enough to a $500 rounding step that the band spans two answers. The green HSA rows are official, from Rev. Proc. 2026-24. Get one email when the official numbers land →

Why these projections use a different inflation number than our other 2027 pages — and should. The retirement-plan limits on this page index on CPI-U third-quarter averages under IRC §415(d) and its cross-references — Notice 2025-67's own §415(b)(1)(B) factor of 1.0288 equals the published CPI-U Q3-over-Q3 ratio (the CPI-W ratio rounds to 1.0277, which rules it out). The IRA limits ride the chained C-CPI-U September–August window of IRC §1(f) — the same +3.1% central case as the 2027 tax brackets. The HSA family uses a March-ending C-CPI-U window, which is why its 2027 amounts are already official. Meanwhile IRMAA uses CPI-U over a different window and the COLA uses CPI-W. Different statutes, different price measures — the spread across our 2027 pages is the law working as written, not an inconsistency.

401(k), 403(b), TSP and 457(b) elective deferrals

Limit	2026 official	2027 (central)	2027 band	Status
401(k) / 403(b) / TSP elective deferral limit Per employee, all elective deferrals combined	$24,500	$25,500	$25,000–$25,500	PROJECTED
457(b) deferral limit (state/local government and tax-exempt plans) Per participant	$24,500	$25,500	$25,000–$25,500	PROJECTED

Catch-up contributions — age 50+, ages 60–63, and the Roth wage threshold

The ages 60–63 amount is the projection to watch: the increase-rounding rule held it at $11,250 through 2026, and 2027 is the first year the cumulative adjustment clears a $500 step — $11,750 at every point of the band.

Limit	2026 official	2027 (central)	2027 band	Status
Catch-up contribution, age 50+ (401(k)/403(b)/457/SARSEP) Per employee aged 50 or over by year-end	$8,000	$8,500	$8,000–$8,500	PROJECTED
Higher catch-up, ages 60–63 (SECURE 2.0 §109) Per employee who attains age 60–63 during the year; replaces the age-50 catch-up in those years	$11,250	$11,750	$11,750	PROJECTED
Roth catch-up wage threshold (catch-ups must be Roth above it) FICA wages in 2026, governing 2027 catch-up contributions (the notice states the threshold one wage-year back)	$150,000	$155,000	$155,000	PROJECTED

Combined employee caps (deferral + catch-up)

Convenience sums of two rows above — both components sit on rounding-step edges, so the combined band is wider than either alone.

Limit	2026 official	2027 (central)	2027 band	Status
Max employee deferral with age-50+ catch-up (401(k)/403(b)) Ages 50–59 and 64+	$32,500	$34,000	$33,000–$34,000	PROJECTED
Max employee deferral with ages 60–63 higher catch-up (401(k)/403(b)) Employees attaining age 60–63 in the year	$35,750	$37,250	$36,750–$37,250	PROJECTED

Traditional and Roth IRA

Limit	2026 official	2027 (central)	2027 band	Status
Traditional + Roth IRA contribution limit Per individual, traditional and Roth combined	$7,500	$7,500	$7,500	PROJECTED
IRA catch-up contribution, age 50+ Per individual aged 50 or over by year-end	$1,100	$1,100	$1,100	PROJECTED
IRA limit with age-50+ catch-up Per individual aged 50 or over	$8,600	$8,600	$8,600	PROJECTED

HSA and HDHP amounts — already official for 2027

The HSA family is the one group that is already official for 2027: §223(g) runs on a March-ending window and requires publication by June 1, and Rev. Proc. 2026-24 (May 2026) sets these amounts. The age-55 catch-up is set in statute at $1,000 and does not adjust.

Limit	2026 official	2027 (central)	2027 band	Status
HSA contribution limit — self-only coverage Per individual with self-only HDHP coverage	$4,400	$4,500	$4,500	OFFICIAL
HSA contribution limit — family coverage Per individual with family HDHP coverage	$8,750	$9,000	$9,000	OFFICIAL
HSA additional contribution, age 55+ Per individual aged 55 or over by year-end	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000	STATUTORY
HDHP minimum annual deductible — self-only Plan qualification floor	$1,700	$1,750	$1,750	OFFICIAL
HDHP minimum annual deductible — family Plan qualification floor	$3,400	$3,500	$3,500	OFFICIAL
HDHP maximum out-of-pocket — self-only Plan qualification ceiling	$8,500	$8,700	$8,700	OFFICIAL
HDHP maximum out-of-pocket — family Plan qualification ceiling	$17,000	$17,400	$17,400	OFFICIAL

SIMPLE IRA and SIMPLE 401(k)

Limit	2026 official	2027 (central)	2027 band	Status
SIMPLE elective deferral limit Per employee (standard limit)	$17,000	$17,500	$17,500	PROJECTED
Higher SIMPLE deferral limit (SECURE 2.0 §117 eligible employers) Employers of 25 or fewer, or electing employers of 26–100 with the match/contribution bump	$18,100	$19,100	$19,100	PROJECTED
SIMPLE catch-up, age 50+ Per employee aged 50 or over (standard limit)	$4,000	$4,000	$4,000	PROJECTED
Higher SIMPLE catch-up, age 50+ (SECURE 2.0 §117 eligible employers) Per employee aged 50 or over at eligible employers	$3,850	$3,850	$3,850	PROJECTED
Higher SIMPLE catch-up, ages 60–63 (SECURE 2.0 §109) Per employee who attains age 60–63 during the year	$5,250	$5,250	$5,250	PROJECTED

Overall plan limits — §415 and the compensation cap

Limit	2026 official	2027 (central)	2027 band	Status
Defined-contribution annual additions limit (§415(c)) Per participant: employee + employer + after-tax additions (catch-ups excluded)	$72,000	$75,000	$75,000	PROJECTED
Defined-benefit annual benefit limit (§415(b)) Per participant, annual benefit	$290,000	$300,000	$300,000	PROJECTED
Annual compensation limit (§401(a)(17)) Maximum compensation countable for plan contributions/benefits	$360,000	$375,000	$375,000	PROJECTED

SEP

Limit	2026 official	2027 (central)	2027 band	Status
SEP minimum compensation threshold Employee inclusion floor (§408(k)(2)(C))	$800	$800	$800	PROJECTED
SEP contribution limit (dollar cap) Lesser of 25% of compensation or the §415(c) dollar limit	$72,000	$75,000	$75,000	PROJECTED

Sensitivity: the two limits on a knife edge

Most 2027 amounts are the same at every point of our Q3-2026 CPI-U band — their unrounded values sit deep inside a rounding step. Two do not. The 401(k)/403(b)/457 deferral and the age-50 catch-up share the same base quarter and step, and both cross their next $500 boundary inside the band: a Q3-2026 average below about 334.7 leaves them at $25,000 / $8,000; above it they print $25,500 / $8,500. The SEP minimum has the same property at the very top of the band.

2027 amounts under three Q3-2026 CPI-U assumptionsPROJECTED
Limit	2026 official	3.2%	3.4% (central)	3.6%
401(k)/403(b)/457 elective deferral	$24,500	$25,000	$25,500	$25,500
Catch-up, age 50+	$8,000	$8,000	$8,500	$8,500
Higher catch-up, ages 60–63	$11,250	$11,750	$11,750	$11,750
SEP minimum compensation	$800	$800	$800	$800

Methodology: three indexing machineries, one discipline

The §415(d) family (elective deferrals, catch-ups, SIMPLE, SEP, the §415 caps, the compensation limit). Each statute grows a base dollar amount by the ratio of the CPI-U third-quarter average for the year before the adjustment year to the average for its own base quarter — Q3 2001, 2004, 2005, 2023 or 2024, stated per row — and rounds the increase down to its own step. Rounding the increase, not the total, is what the statutes literally say, and it matters for the SECURE 2.0 amounts whose bases are not multiples of their step: $11,250 × 1.0288 = $11,574 would floor to $11,500 as a total, but the increase of $324 floors to $0 — which is why Notice 2025-67 says the ages 60–63 amount “remains $11,250” for 2026, and why its first indexed step lands in 2027.

The IRA family rides IRC §1(f)(3) instead: chained C-CPI-U, September–August 12-month windows. The $5,000 base substitutes base year 2007 — before the TCJA switch — so the denominator is the 2007 CPI-U window scaled by the 2016 C-CPI-U/CPI-U ratio (§1(f)(3)(A)(ii)+(B)); the $1,000 catch-up substitutes 2022 — after 2016 — so §1(f)(3)(C) makes the denominator the C-CPI-U window alone. Both round the adjusted amount down ($500 / $100). Getting the blend wrong by even one interpretation reproduces the wrong 2026 official, which is exactly how the generator pins it.

The machinery is proved before it projects. The generator behind this page recomputes all sixteen in-scope 2026 official values — plus the 2025 SEP minimum, which pins §408(k)(9)’s unstated base quarter to Q3 2001 — from the embedded BLS snapshot under these formulas, and refuses to write anything if a single one differs from the fetched text of Notice 2025-67. The notice’s own 1.0288 factor is asserted to equal the CPI-U ratio and to differ from CPI-W.

The missing months. Q3 2026 has one published month (July, 333.918). August and September are estimated two ways — (a) hold the mean year-over-year rate of the May-July 2026 prints (Q3 growth +3.60%), (b) apply the two-year mean seasonal July-to-August and August-to-September changes (+3.28%) — the same two carry-forward patterns the brackets page uses for its one missing C-CPI-U month. Central case = their mean quoted to a tenth (+3.4%), band ±0.2pp. The IRA family inherits the brackets page’s C-CPI-U central (+3.1%) and band outright; its ten published window prints are asserted against that page print-for-print, October 2025 (cancelled by BLS after the autumn-2025 shutdown) is interpolated identically (180.131), and both of that page’s carry-forward figures are reproduced from this page’s own snapshot.

Jul 2026333.918

Aug 2026estimated

Sep 2026estimated

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All 27 rows with numeric values, band edges, per-row status, index series, base period, rounding rule, statute and both citations. CC BY 4.0 — cite the canonical URL.

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Common questions

Are the 2027 401(k) and IRA limits official yet?: No. The IRS publishes them in an autumn cost-of-living notice — Notice 2025-67 delivered the 2026 amounts on November 13, 2025 — so expect the official 2027 limits around November 2026. The 2027 HSA family is official already: §223(g) forces publication by June 1, and Rev. Proc. 2026-24 (May 2026) set it.
What is the projected 2027 401(k) limit?: $25,500 central, up from $24,500 — but it is the least settled figure here. The unrounded value sits near a $500 step, so the low end of the band leaves it at $25,000. The age-50 catch-up shares the edge: $8,500 central, $8,000 at the low end. The combined 50+ cap is therefore $33,000–$34,000.
What happens to the ages 60–63 catch-up?: Its first indexed step: $11,250 → $11,750 at every point of the band. The increase-rounding rule zeroed out 2026’s $324 adjustment; by Q3 2026 the cumulative increase clears $500 at any plausible print.
Why does the IRA limit project unchanged at $7,500?: Its statute rounds the adjusted amount down to $500 and the unrounded 2027 value (about $7,825) is still inside the $7,500 step — at every point of the C-CPI-U band. The $1,100 IRA catch-up is inside its $100 step the same way.

Plan against these numbers

Next decision: Which bracket does a bigger deferral pull you out of? — see the projected 2027 brackets →

Every other number that changes for 2027, on one page — the 2027 vs 2026 delta dataset →

Or run your own contributions and withdrawals through the full tax engine, year by year — open the free tax-aware simulation →

Deciding between pre-tax deferrals now and Roth conversions later is a multi-year bracket problem — the Roth Conversion Planner ($99) works the schedule →

Sources, status & last reviewed. OFFICIAL 2026 inputs: every retirement-plan and IRA amount from IRS Notice 2025-67 (retrieved 2026-08-13, full text); HSA/HDHP amounts from Rev. Proc. 2025-19. OFFICIAL 2027: the HSA/HDHP family from Rev. Proc. 2026-24 (May 2026). Base periods and rounding rules from the statute texts at 26 U.S.C. §§402(g)(4), 414(v)(2)(C),(E), 414(v)(7)(E), 415(d), 401(a)(17)(B), 408(k)(9), 408(p)(2)(E), 219(b)(5)(C), 223(b)(3), 223(g) and 1(f)(3),(4),(6), retrieved 2026-08-13. Index inputs: BLS series CUUR0000SA0 (CPI-U), SUUR0000SA0 (C-CPI-U) and CWUR0000SA0 (CPI-W, carried only to show it is not the §415(d) index), retrieved 2026-08-13 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics; October 2025 does not exist in the monthly series (release cancelled after the autumn-2025 shutdown) and is interpolated where a window requires it, exactly as on the 2027 brackets page. PROJECTED outputs: every amber 2027 figure, computed by the method above; no non-HSA 2027 figure on this page comes from the IRS, because the IRS has not published one. Last reviewed: 2026-08-13. This page will be rewritten with the announced figures when the 2027 notice is released.

The non-HSA 2027 figures on this page are projections for educational planning only, not announced amounts, and nothing here is tax, legal or financial advice. Do not use them for a contribution election until the IRS publishes the official notice. Verify against IRS guidance when it is released.

Cite this dataset

QuantCalc Research (2027). 2027 Retirement Contribution Limits — 401(k), IRA, HSA, SIMPLE, SEP (Official 2026 vs Projected 2027). https://quantcalc.app/data/contribution-limits-2027/ (accessed <date>).

BibTeX

@misc{quantcalc20272027retirementcontributionlimits401kirah,
  title  = {2027 Retirement Contribution Limits — 401(k), IRA, HSA, SIMPLE, SEP (Official 2026 vs Projected 2027)},
  author = {{QuantCalc Research}},
  year   = {2027},
  url    = {https://quantcalc.app/data/contribution-limits-2027/},
  note   = {Accessed <date>}
}

Machine-readable citation metadata (schema.org identifier and citation fields) is embedded in this page's JSON-LD, at the stable identifier https://quantcalc.app/data/contribution-limits-2027/.