401k Contribution Limits 2026: What You Need to Know

What is the 2026 401k contribution limit?

For 2026 the IRS elective-deferral limit — the most you can contribute from your own paycheck to a 401k — is $24,500. This is the number most people mean when they talk about 'maxing out' a 401k, and a 401k max contribution calculator turns it into a per-paycheck percentage. It applies to the combined total of your traditional (pre-tax) and Roth 401k contributions, not to each separately.

The limit is per person, not per plan. If you change jobs mid-year or hold two jobs at once, your own contributions across every 401k still have to fit under the single $24,500 ceiling. Your employer's matching or profit-sharing money does not count toward it — that sits under a separate, higher limit covered below.

How much can you contribute after age 50?

Once you reach age 50, you can contribute more through a 'catch-up' contribution. For 2026 the standard catch-up is $8,000, lifting your personal limit to $32,500. This exists to help savers accelerate in the years closest to retirement.

Under SECURE 2.0, savers aged 60 to 63 get an enhanced catch-up of $11,250 instead of $8,000, which raises the personal limit to $35,750 in those specific years. The larger amount applies only for the calendar years you are 60 through 63; at 64 you drop back to the standard catch-up. If your goal is to reach the ceiling every year, our step-by-step guide to maxing out a 401k walks through the timing.

How do employer contributions affect the total limit?

Employer contributions — the employer match and any profit-sharing — are on top of your own limit, not inside it. The cap that governs everyone's contributions combined is the §415(c) limit, which for 2026 is $72,000 (or $80,000 including the age-50 catch-up).

So the most that can flow into a single 401k in 2026 is your $24,500 plus enough employer money and after-tax contributions to reach $72,000. Very few employees hit this ceiling, but high earners with generous profit-sharing plans or after-tax 'mega backdoor' contributions can.

One further limit matters for high earners: only the first $360,000 of pay counts as eligible compensation for 2026, which caps how large a percentage-based employer contribution can be.

What counts toward the 401k limit?

Your elective deferrals count toward the $24,500 limit whether they are traditional or Roth. What does not count toward it: the employer match, employer profit-sharing, and the interest or investment growth your balance earns.

• Counts toward $24,500: your traditional and Roth 401k contributions combined.
• Does not count: employer match, profit-sharing, and investment growth.
• Separate limit: IRA contributions have their own $7,500 ceiling ($8,600 if 50+).
• The $360,000 compensation limit caps the pay used to figure percentage-based contributions.

What happens if you contribute too much?

Exceeding the deferral limit — usually only possible if you switch jobs and both employers' payroll systems do not talk to each other — creates an 'excess deferral.' If you catch it, notify your plan and request a corrective distribution by the deadline (generally April 15 of the following year).

Left uncorrected, excess deferrals can be taxed twice: once in the year contributed and again when eventually distributed. Because employers cap contributions automatically within a single plan, the risk almost always comes from holding two unrelated 401k accounts in the same year. Our 401k FAQ hub covers more of the edge cases around excess deferrals.