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Catch-Up Contributions for 401(k)s and IRAs Explained
401(k) Rollover Checklist
Year-End Retirement Tax Strategies
401(k) Explained: Everything You Need to Know Before Your Next Job
IRA and 401(k) Deadlines
What Caregivers Can Do to Close the Retirement Gap
401(k) vs IRA? Side-by-Side Comparison
What IRA is Best for a Self-Employed Person?
A Simple Guide on IRA Contribution Reporting
A Comprehensive Guide to Traditional and Roth IRAs

Catch-Up Contributions for 401(k)s and IRAs Explained

Here’s what you need to know about catch-up contributions, the deadlines for making them, and how to make up for lost time in retirement planning.

What are Catch-Up Contributions?

If you’re 50 or older, you might feel behind with your retirement savings. Maybe life got busy, or maybe you just started taking your retirement seriously later in your career. 

Either way, the good news is the IRS gives you a helping hand: catch-up contributions. These are extra contributions you can make to your 401(k), IRA, or other retirement accounts, something that can really help as you get closer to retirement age.

401(k) Contributions

  • Maximum employee contribution: $24,500 for 2026 (up from $23,500 in 2025)
  • Catch-up contribution (age 50+): $8,000 in 2026 (up from $7,500 in 2025, total $32,500)
  • Combined employee + employer contribution limit: $72,000 for 2026 (up from $70,000 in 2025, $80,000+ with catch-ups)
  • Contribution deadlines:
    • 2025 tax year: contributions must be made by December 31, 2025
    • 2026 tax year: contributions must be made by December 31, 2026

IRA Contributions (Traditional and Roth)

  • Maximum contribution: $7,500 for 2026 (up from $7,000 in 2025)
  • Catch-up contribution (age 50+): $1,100 for 2026 (up from $1,000 in 2025)
  • Total contribution if age 50+: $8,600 for 2026 (up from $8,000 in 2025)
  • Contribution deadlines:
    • 2025 tax year: contributions can usually be made until April 15, 2026, contributions made after this date count for 2026
    • 2026 tax year: contributions can usually be made until April 15, 2027

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These extra contributions can make a difference through long-term retirement planning, especially when combined with rollovers from old 401(k)s or IRAs into a new account. Consolidating your accounts can help simplify your savings strategy and make it easier to manage your contributions in one place.

What’s the deadline for making catch-up contributions to 401(k)s and IRAs?

If you’re 50 or older, it helps to know the deadlines for 401(k) and IRA catch-up contributions. Meeting them ensures your extra savings go toward the tax year you intend.

  • 401(k) Catch-Up Contributions: Generally, contributions must be made by December 31st of the current tax year. This includes any extra amounts allowed for those 50 and older.
  • IRA Catch-Up Contributions: For IRAs, including Traditional and Roth accounts, contributions for a given tax year can usually be made until the tax filing deadline the following year (typically April 15). This gives a bit more flexibility for IRAs compared to 401(k)s.

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Understanding these deadlines can help you plan how to allocate contributions across accounts and avoid missing the opportunity to take advantage of catch-up contributions.

Be Retirement Confident.

Roll over all your old 401(k)s into a PensionBee Individual Retirement Account (IRA). It takes just a few minutes to sign up.

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Why Catch-Up Contributions Matter

The closer you are to retirement, the less time your money has to grow. That’s why making catch-up contributions can be so helpful:

  1. Utilize Tax Advantages: Pre-tax contributions to a Traditional 401(k) or IRA can help lower your taxable income for the year.
  2. Strengthen Your Nest Egg: Extra contributions mean more money saved over time for retirement.
  3. Simplify Your Retirement Planning: Rolling over old 401(k)s or IRAs into a single IRA can simplify your accounts and can make catch-up contributions easier to manage.

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Even small contributions can add up. A few extra thousand dollars today could potentially grow into tens of thousands more in retirement thanks to compound interest.

Take Advantage of Catch-Up Contributions with PensionBee

Taking advantage of these extra contributions can help your nest egg, especially when paired with a rollover. If you have old 401(k)s or IRAs, you can roll them into a single PensionBee IRA and enjoy a 1% match whenever you roll over or contribute. (terms and conditions apply). With expert management and diversified portfolios made up of ETFs like SPY and MDY from State Street Investment Management, one of the world’s largest asset managers.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)

1. Who is eligible for catch-up contributions?

Anyone aged 50 or older can make catch-up contributions to qualified retirement accounts, including 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and IRAs.

2. Can I contribute to both a 401(k) and an IRA catch-up in the same year?

Yes! You can contribute catch-up amounts to both account types if eligible. 

3. Do catch-up contributions affect my regular contribution limit?

No, they are in addition to the standard limits, giving you extra room to save.

4. Is it too late to make catch-up contributions?

You have until December 31 for 401(k)s and generally until tax filing time (usually April 15) for IRAs to make contributions for the previous year.

Be Retirement Confident.

Roll over all your old 401(k)s into a PensionBee Individual Retirement Account (IRA). It takes just a few minutes to sign up.

Get started
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Options on Rollovers
A rollover is not your only option for an old 401(k) or IRA, you may alternatively decide to leave your assets with your former employer, rollover your plan to a new employer or to cash in your old plan with the resulting tax penalties applied.  PensionBee Inc. does not provide tax advice or individual recommendations as to which of these options is most appropriate for your individual circumstances.  To understand the implications of each of the options available to you and help you decide between them you may wish to consult a tax professional who has knowledge of your individual circumstances. For more information see FINRA - Retirement Accounts.

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State Street is not involved in the management of the strategies and accounts offered to you by PensionBee. State Street and its affiliates are not your investment adviser and are not a fiduciary with respect to you or your account. PensionBee is independent of State Street. State Street is not recommending or endorsing PensionBee or making a determination of the suitability or appropriateness for any individual products or investment strategies offered by PensionBee, including those described herein. Standard & Poor's®, S&P® and SPDR® are registered trademarks of Standard and Poor’s Financial Services LLC (S&P); Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (Dow Jones); and these trademarks have been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (SPDJI) and sublicensed for certain purposes by State Street Corporation. State Street Corporation’s financial products are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones or S&P, their respective affiliates and third party licensors and none of such parties make any representations regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s) nor do they have any liability in relation thereto, including for any errors, omissions or interruptions or any index.

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