If you are saving in your employer’s retirement plan, knowing how much you can contribute to your program each year is essential. The maximum amount you can contribute to your 401(k) plan account may be adjusted yearly.
Contribution Limits for 2026
In 2026, for traditional (pre-tax) and Roth contributions, the annual limit is $24,500 per participant. Plus, any saver aged 50 and over can make an additional catch-up contribution of $8,000, bringing the maximum amount of annual deferrals they can make to $32,500.
Combined contributions made by employers and employees have an annual limit of $72,000.
In addition, individuals aged 60 to 63 as of the last day of the 2026 Plan Year can make higher catch-up contributions to their retirement plans, with limits increasing to $11,250.
Note: Starter 401(k)s are a specific type of 401(k) that Congress introduced in the SECURE Act 2.0 of 2022. Though similar to traditional 401(k)s, some key differences include lower employee contribution limits. For 2026, employees can contribute up to $6,000, with an additional $1,000 catch-up contribution allowed for those aged 50 and older.
What Is a Catch-Up Contribution?
A catch-up contribution is a type of retirement savings contribution that allows savers aged 50 and over to make additional contributions to their 401(k) plan accounts, allowing these participants to set aside more for their retirement. As of 2025, savers between the ages of 60 to 63 can make additional catch-up contributions.
How Are Catch-Up Contributions Made?
Catch-up contributions are additional contributions allowed for savers age 50 and above which do not count toward annual limits. A saver who is age 50 or older can then make a catch-up contribution after the maximum regular contribution allowed for the year has been reached, which is $8,000 in 2026.
A saver who is between age 60 and 63 can make additional catch-up contributions after the maximum regular contribution allowed for the year has been reached, which is $11,250 in 2026.
If you have decided to make catch-up contributions, contact your plan administrator for further details.
What Are Employer Contributions?
Some employers offer the benefit of contributing to an employee's 401(k) account. Depending on your plan’s features, these contributions can be made through:
Employer Matching Contributions: When an employer matches your contributions, a certain amount is deposited to your 401(k) plan, based on how much you contribute annually. There are two common types of matches:
- Partial Matching: Typically, your employer will match half of whatever you contribute, but no more than 3% of your salary total. To get to the maximum amount of match, you have to contribute 6% of your compensation.
- Dollar-For-Dollar Matching: This is referred to as a full match, your employer contributes the same amount you do up to a certain amount determined by your employer.
Profit Sharing: This contribution type is a pre-tax contribution that employers make to their employees' 401(k) plan accounts after the end of the year. As an example, employers can use profit sharing as a year-end bonus for employees. There are two common options:
- Same Dollar Amount Method: Every employee receives the same contribution amount.
- Comp-to-Comp Method: Profit sharing is based on employee's relative salaries; an example is when employees are set to receive contributions equal to 5% of their respective salary.
Safe Harbor: This is a special type of 401(k) plan that requires employers to make contributions to the plan for their employees’ benefit. There are a few available contribution options:
- Basic Safe Harbor: Also known as an elective safe harbor, this type of plan requires employers to match 100% of employees’ contributions up to 3% of an employee's compensation.
- Nonelective Safe Harbor: Employers make a retirement contribution of 3% of compensation for all workers, regardless of whether they choose to participate in the plan.
- Enhanced Safe Harbor: This type of plan typically provides a 100% match of up to 4% of an employee's compensation.
- Qualified Automatic Contribution Arrangement Safe Harbor: This type of plan features an automatic enrollment of employees after they satisfy the plan’s eligibility rules and contributes 3% of an employee's compensation to the plan unless the employee opts out. The contribution rate increases each year by 1% until the employee’s deferral rate reaches 6% of compensation.
To confirm whether your plan offers any employer match features, please review your "Plan Highlights" or your plan's Summary Plan Description. Both are located in the “Documents” tab of your saver portal.