Catch-Up Contributions in 2026: The Tax Saved Now vs Later, the 60–63 Super Catch-Up and the Roth Rule Above $150,000

Published 2026-10-11. Tax year 2026 (the return filed in early 2027).

What are 2026 catch-up contributions worth, and what does the Roth catch-up rule cost?

In 2026 a worker 50 or older can add $8,000 to the $24,500 401(k) limit, and one who turns 60, 61, 62 or 63 can add $11,250. If your 2025 FICA wages from the employer were above $150,000, the catch-up must go in as Roth. For a single earner of $175,000 at 61 that rule gives up $2,700 of federal tax saved now (24.0% of the $11,250); the same dollars, drawn at 75 from an IRA on the retirement income assumed here, would cost $2,475 (22.0%). Pretax beats Roth when the rate now is higher than the rate later: true in 6 of the 12 federal cases here, and, counting state tax, for that $175,000 earner in 49 of 50 states.

Your own limit and catch-up: the 2026 401(k) limits and calculator
Free: the 2026 deferral, catch-up and super catch-up for your age, and the Roth rule.

The 2026 rules

The 401(k), 403(b) and governmental 457(b) elective deferral limit is $24,500; a participant 50 or older by the end of the year can add a $8,000 catch-up, and one who reaches 60, 61, 62 or 63 in 2026 can add $11,250 instead (IRS Notice 2025-67; IRC §414(v)(2)(E)). From 2026, a participant whose prior-year FICA wages from the employer sponsoring the plan exceeded the threshold must make catch-ups as Roth contributions: for 2026 catch-ups the threshold is $150,000 of 2025 wages (§414(v)(7); the notice). The administrative transition period ended on December 31, 2025; the final regulations apply from 2027 and plans use a reasonable good-faith reading of the statute in 2026 (IR-2025-91). FICA wages include elective deferrals (§3121(v)(1)(A)), so the test reads pay before the 401(k) deduction, and neither kind of catch-up changes Social Security or Medicare tax.

The households. Each earner already defers the full $24,500 pretax, so the catch-up is the next dollar, and earned the same in 2025 as in 2026. On a joint return only one spouse is 50 or older with a catch-up; the other spouse's wages are as shown. Pretax lowers wages on the 2026 return by the catch-up (§402(g)); Roth leaves them. At 75 the dollars come out of an IRA on top of the household's retirement income (Social Security and IRA withdrawals, in 2026 dollars) in the year they turn 75, under the federal law as written for that year with every amount in 2026 dollars, so the 2025–2028 senior deduction is gone and the brackets are today's in real terms; the state is figured on its 2026 law.

With the same investment growth on both sides and the tax saving invested alongside, a pretax dollar beats a Roth dollar when the tax rate it saves now is higher than the rate it pays later; the dollar amounts above are for the contribution itself, before growth. Pretax wins in 6 of the 12 federal cases. For the 6 cases where the Roth rule applies, it costs federal tax in 2 (the rate at 75 is lower than the rate now), makes no difference in 4 (the same rate both times) and helps in 0.

What the 60–63 super catch-up adds

The $11,250 limit replaces the $8,000 one in the four years from 60 to 63, then falls back. Made pretax, the extra room is worth this much federal tax in 2026 (the same household at 55 and at 61; under 65 the federal return does not depend on age otherwise):

For the 3 earners above $150,000 (W3, W4, W6) this column is hypothetical: their catch-up, super or not, must be Roth.

Federal and state, every state

A state income tax adds to both sides: what the pretax catch-up saves now and what the withdrawal costs at 75. States that exempt some or all retirement income tilt it toward pretax for someone who will retire there: for the $175,000 earner the withdrawal at 75 costs no state tax in 3 of the 41 states that tax the wages now. Pennsylvania is left out: it does not exclude 401(k) elective deferrals from taxable compensation (PA Department of Revenue), which the state engines here do not model, and it does not tax most retirement distributions.

For this earner the federal-plus-state advantage of pretax is largest in New Jersey ($812) and smallest in Minnesota (−$350).

Related: Contribution limits 2026 and 2027 · 2027 catch-up contributions · FICA tax rate 2026 · Roth breakeven by age

Download the data

Every case on this page, with its inputs: catch-up-contributions-tax-value-2026.csv (the 12 federal cases) · catch-up-contributions-tax-value-2026-states.csv (the 600 federal + state cases) · catch-up-contributions-tax-value-2026.json (both, CC0). Dollar amounts in USD; rates as decimals.

Questions

What are the 2026 catch-up contribution limits?

$8,000 on top of the $24,500 401(k), 403(b) or governmental 457(b) limit at 50 or older, and $11,250 instead for those who reach 60, 61, 62 or 63 in 2026 (IRS Notice 2025-67).

Do catch-up contributions have to be Roth in 2026?

Only if your 2025 FICA wages from the employer sponsoring the plan were above $150,000. FICA wages count pay before the 401(k) deduction. Below that, the plan can let you choose pretax or Roth.

How much tax does the Roth catch-up rule cost?

It removes the deduction now and makes the withdrawal tax-free later. For a single earner of $175,000 at 61 it gives up $2,700 of federal tax saved in 2026 on $11,250, against $2,475 of federal tax the same dollars would cost at 75 on the retirement income assumed here; the net is $225 before growth.

Is the 60-63 super catch-up worth it?

It adds $3,250 of room a year for four years. Made pretax by a single earner of $90,000, it saves $390 more federal tax in the year than the $8,000 catch-up does.

Method and sources

Every figure was computed by QuantCalc's open tax engines (federal 2.3.2, state 1.14.2) through the same household module the tax-season calculators run, then recomputed by the C engines behind the federal and state tax APIs, from independently written requests, agreeing to the cent. "Saved now" is the 2026 tax with the catch-up made Roth (box 1 wages = pay less the $24,500 deferral) less the tax with it pretax (box 1 lower by the catch-up). "At 75" is the tax on the same amount withdrawn from an IRA in the year the earner turns 75, from the federal engine's projection for that year with a CPI factor of 1 (the law as written for that year, every amount in 2026 dollars) and the state's 2026 law. The limits are read from QuantCalc's contribution limits dataset, transcribed from IRS Notice 2025-67. The sources:

• IRS Notice 2025-67: 2026 amounts relating to retirement plans and IRAs
• 26 U.S. Code §414(v): catch-up contributions (incl. (v)(2)(E), ages 60-63, and (v)(7), the Roth requirement)
• IRS IR-2025-91: final regulations on the Roth catch-up rule
• 26 U.S. Code §3121(v)(1)(A): elective deferrals remain FICA wages
• 26 U.S. Code §402(g): limit on exclusion for elective deferrals
• Pennsylvania Department of Revenue: PA Personal Income Tax Guide, Gross Compensation
• Rev. Proc. 2025-32: 2026 inflation-adjusted items (incl. One Big Beautiful Bill amendments)
• Publication 915, Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits
• Public Law 119-21 (One Big Beautiful Bill Act), enrolled text

What is not modelled

• The households, their 2025 wages (assumed equal to 2026) and their retirement incomes are illustrations; a lower income in retirement than assumed makes pretax look better, a higher one makes Roth look better.
• Each earner is assumed to defer the full regular limit pretax already; wages from one employer; no employer match (a match on a Roth catch-up is a separate question).
• The comparison is on the contribution itself, before growth, and assumes the pretax tax saving is invested alongside; the 5-year rule for qualified Roth withdrawals is assumed met by 75.
• Wages are below the Additional Medicare Tax threshold in every case, so the engine's single wages figure for W-2 boxes 1 and 5 does not change the tax.
• A plan without a Roth option cannot accept a catch-up from an employee the Roth rule covers; that case is not modelled.
• Pennsylvania (which taxes elective deferrals) and local income taxes are not included; the state at 75 is the same state, on its 2026 law.

An estimate, not tax advice. These are computed examples for the 2026 tax year from QuantCalc's open tax engines (federal 2.3.2, state 1.14.2). Your own return depends on facts these examples do not include. Check any decision with your tax preparer before acting.

@misc{quantcalc2026catchupcontributionsin2026whatthe6063sup,
  title  = {Catch-Up Contributions in 2026: What the 60–63 Super Catch-Up and the Roth Catch-Up Rule Are Worth, Six Households and Every State},
  author = {{QuantCalc Research}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://quantcalc.app/research/catch-up-contributions-tax-value-2026/},
  note   = {Accessed <date>}
}