Retirement Retirement planning: Contribution limits for 2026

Adam Frank

Managing Director, Head of Wealth Planning and Advice, J.P. Morgan Wealth Management

Updated Dec 11, 2025 |
2 min read

The IRS released the retirement contribution limits for 20261 and we are breaking it down for you. Talk to a J.P. Morgan professional to begin planning your 2026 retirement contributions. And don't forget to reach out to tax professionals for tax advice.

 

From qualified defined benefit plan to traditional or Roth IRA

 

Maximum contribution

 

$7,500 ($8,600 if age 50 or over)2, 3

 

Maximum deduction

 

$7,500 ($8,600 if age 50 or over) for traditional IRA; no deduction for Roth IRA contributions.4

 

Deadline for adoption

 

Due date of taxpayer’s federal tax return (not including extensions).

 

Last contribution date

 

Due date of taxpayer’s federal tax return (not including extensions).

 

Qualified defined contribution plan

 

Maximum contribution

 

  • Employee Elective contribution: deferral up to $24,500 ($32,500 if age 50 or over).5
  • Employer Nonelective contribution: Lesser of $72,000 or 100%6 ($80,000 if age 50 or over) of participant’s compensation (reduced by any elective deferrals).7

 

Maximum deduction

 

25%8 of all participants’ compensation,9 plus amount of elective deferrals made.

 

Deadline for adoption

 

Anytime up to the due date of employer's federal tax return (including extensions).

 

Last contribution date

 

  • Employee Elective deferral: Due date of employer’s federal tax return (including extensions).10
  • Employer nonelective contribution: Due date of employer’s federal tax return (including extensions).

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Qualified defined benefit plan

 

Maximum contribution

 

Amount needed to provide an annual benefit no larger than the smaller of $290,000 or 100% of the participant’s average compensation11 for his or her highest three consecutive calendar years.

 

Maximum deduction

 

Based on actuarial assumptions and computations.

 

Deadline for adoption

 

Anytime up to the due date of employer's return (including extensions).

 

Last contribution date

 

Contributions generally must be paid in quarterly installments depending on the plan year; due 15 days after the end of each quarter (potentially subject to minimum funding requirements).

 

Simplified employee pension (SEP) IRA

 

Maximum contribution

 

Lesser of $72,000 or 25%12 of participant’s compensation.13

 

Maximum deduction

 

25%14 of all participants’ compensation.15

 

Deadline for adoption

 

Anytime up to the due date of employer’s federal tax return (including extensions).

 

Last contribution date

 

Due date of employer’s federal tax return (including extensions).

 

Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) IRA and SIMPLE 401(k)

 

Maximum contribution

 

  • Employee contribution: Salary reduction contribution up to $17,000 ($21,000 if age 50 or over).16
  • Employer contribution: Either dollar-for-dollar matching contributions, up to 3% of employee’s compensation,17 or fixed non-elective contributions of 2% of compensation.18

 

Maximum deduction

 

Same as maximum contribution.

 

Deadline for adoption

 

Anytime between January 1 and October 1 of the calendar year. For a new employer coming into existence after October 1, as soon as administratively feasible.

 

Last contribution date

 

  • Salary reduction contributions: 30 days after the end of the month for which the contributions are to be made.19
  • Matching or non-elective contributions: Due date of employer’s return (including extensions).

 

The amount of salary deferrals someone can contribute to retirement plans is the individual limit each calendar year no matter how many plans (e.g., 401k, 403b, SIMPLE) they are participating.

 

Catch-up contributions allowed if permitted by the plan. Check with your employer.

 

For important disclosures, please refer to the disclosures section for detailed information.

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Adam Frank

Managing Director, Head of Wealth Planning and Advice, J.P. Morgan Wealth Management

Adam leads J.P. Morgan Wealth Management's Wealth Planning and Advice team, which is responsible for wealth planning, thought leadership and strategic planning for individual clients. This national group of former practicing lawyers, CPA ...More

Adam leads J.P. Morgan Wealth Management's Wealth Planning and Advice team, which is responsible for wealth planning, thought leadership and strategic planning for individual clients. This national group of former practicing lawyers, CPAs, Certified Financial Planners™ and other financial professionals provides expertise to individual clients in estate and tax planning strategies, wealth planning and modeling, retirement planning, restricted and control stock and stock option management, business succession planning, pre- and post- transactional planning, concentrated position management and other personal planning strategies. The team provides internal training to the J.P. Morgan Wealth Management sales force on these topics and also creates content for distribution to the public.

 

Adam has published and spoken extensively on wealth planning topics. He writes a semi-regular column for Kiplinger’s and has been quoted in Barron’s, USA Today and a number of other publications. He has spoken at industry events and in seminars, has acted as a guest lecturer at Hofstra University, and has led or participated in panels for the Urban Institute and the Black Congressional Caucus Foundation’s Annual Leadership Conference, among others.

 

Prior to his current role, Adam led the Wealth Management department for J.P. Morgan Securities and for Bear Stearns. He has extensive experience with sophisticated family business and succession planning, philanthropic planning, estate and gift tax management techniques, discounted gifting transactions, estate litigation, goals-based planning, asset allocation, monetization and hedging techniques, and the taxation and analysis of employee stock options.

 

Previously, Adam was an attorney at Schulte Roth & Zabel (1998–2001) and Sullivan & Cromwell (1993, 1994–1998), where his practice focused on representing high-net-worth clients and closely held businesses. He started his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Jacob Mishler of the Eastern District of New York (1993–1994).

 

Adam earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

 

Wealth Planners may work with clients’ tax advisors but do not provide tax advice.

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Footnotes

  • 1

    Internal Revenue Service, “401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA limit increases to $7,500.” (November 13, 2025)
  • 2

    Ibid.
  • 3

    A taxpayer who is covered by a retirement plan at work, or whose spouse is covered by a retirement plan at work, may not be able to deduct all or part of his or her traditional IRA contributions depending on his or her modified adjusted gross income (AGI). Similarly, your ability to contribute to a Roth IRA may be limited based on your modified AGI. You should consult with your tax professional to confirm whether you are able to deduct your traditional IRA contribution or contribute to a Roth IRA. For 2026, phase-out ranges and limits have increased: see IRS Notice 2025-67 for details.
  • 4

    Internal Revenue Service, “Notice 2025-67: 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted for Changes in Cost-of-Living.” (2025)
  • 5

    Internal Revenue Service, “401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA limit increases to $7,500.” (November 13, 2025)
  • 6

    Net earnings from self-employment must take the contribution into account. Contributions made on behalf of self-employed individuals can be more complex; please see Internal Revenue Service Publication 560 for more information, or speak to your tax professional. Employees who turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 in 2026 are able to contribute an enhanced catch-up amount of $11,250, or a total contribution of up to $35,750. Beginning in 2026, any portion or all of the enhanced catch-up amount for highly compensated employees (in 2025, the wage threshold is $145,000 and in 2026, the wage threshold is $150,000) must be contributed on an after-tax basis to a Roth account. The enhanced catch-up is optional for employers; in order to take advantage of it your employer's plan has to allow it.
  • 7

    Internal Revenue Service, “Notice 2025-67: 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted for Changes in Cost-of-Living.” (2025)
  • 8

    Net earnings from self-employment must take the contribution into account. Contributions made on behalf of self-employed individuals can be more complex; please see Internal Revenue Service Publication 560 for more information, or speak to your tax professional. Employees who turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 in 2026 are able to contribute an enhanced catch-up amount of $11,250, or a total contribution of up to $35,750. Beginning in 2026, any portion or all of the enhanced catch-up amount for highly compensated employees (in 2025, the wage threshold is $145,000 and in 2026, the wage threshold is $150,000) must be contributed on an after-tax basis to a Roth account. The enhanced catch-up is optional for employers; in order to take advantage of it your employer's plan has to allow it.
  • 9

    Compensation is generally limited to $360,000 in 2026.
  • 10

    Certain plans subject to Department of Labor rules, such as 401(k) plans, may have an earlier due date for salary reduction contributions and elective deferrals.
  • 11

    Compensation is generally limited to $360,000 in 2026.
  • 12

    Net earnings from self-employment must take the contribution into account. Contributions made on behalf of self-employed individuals can be more complex; please see Internal Revenue Service Publication 560 for more information, or speak to your tax professional. Employees who turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 in 2026 are able to contribute an enhanced catch-up amount of $11,250, or a total contribution of up to $35,750. Beginning in 2026, any portion or all of the enhanced catch-up amount for highly compensated employees (in 2025, the wage threshold is $145,000 and in 2026, the wage threshold is $150,000) must be contributed on an after-tax basis to a Roth account. The enhanced catch-up is optional for employers; in order to take advantage of it your employer's plan has to allow it.
  • 13

    Compensation is generally limited to $360,000 in 2026.
  • 14

    Net earnings from self-employment must take the contribution into account. Contributions made on behalf of self-employed individuals can be more complex; please see Internal Revenue Service Publication 560 for more information, or speak to your tax professional. Employees who turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 in 2026 are able to contribute an enhanced catch-up amount of $11,250, or a total contribution of up to $35,750. Beginning in 2026, any portion or all of the enhanced catch-up amount for highly compensated employees (in 2025, the wage threshold is $145,000 and in 2026, the wage threshold is $150,000) must be contributed on an after-tax basis to a Roth account. The enhanced catch-up is optional for employers; in order to take advantage of it your employer's plan has to allow it.
  • 15

    Compensation is generally limited to $360,000 in 2026.
  • 16

    Employees who turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 in 2025 are able to contribute an enhanced catch-up amount of $5,250. Employees in certain eligible SIMPLE retirement accounts have an increased annual contribution limit of $18,100 and an unchanged catch-up contribution limit of $3,850.
  • 17

    Under a SIMPLE 401(k) plan, compensation is generally limited to $350,000 in 2025. 
  • 18

    Net earnings from self-employment must take the contribution into account. Contributions made on behalf of self-employed individuals can be more complex; please see Internal Revenue Service Publication 560 for more information, or speak to your tax professional. Employees who turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 in 2026 are able to contribute an enhanced catch-up amount of $11,250, or a total contribution of up to $35,750. Beginning in 2026, any portion or all of the enhanced catch-up amount for highly compensated employees (in 2025, the wage threshold is $145,000 and in 2026, the wage threshold is $150,000) must be contributed on an after-tax basis to a Roth account. The enhanced catch-up is optional for employers; in order to take advantage of it your employer's plan has to allow it.
  • 19

    Certain plans subject to Department of Labor rules, such as 401(k) plans, may have an earlier due date for salary reduction contributions and elective deferrals.