401(k) and HSA limits for 2026

These are the 2026 limits for the accounts most employees use. All of them are set by the IRS each autumn for the following year, and all of them apply per person, not per employer.

401(k), 403(b) and the Thrift Savings Plan

The employee deferral limit is $24,500. It covers everything you put in as an employee across every plan you contribute to in the year, traditional and Roth combined. If you change jobs mid-year, the new employer does not know what you already deferred, so tracking the total is your job. Money over the limit has to be withdrawn by April of the following year or it is taxed twice.

Employer contributions do not count toward $24,500. They count toward a much higher overall limit on additions to your account from all sources, which few employees reach.

Catch-up contributions. At age 50 or older by the end of the year you can add $8,000, for a total of $32,500. If you are 60, 61, 62 or 63 at the end of the year, the catch-up is $11,250 instead, for a total of $35,750. From 2026, employees whose prior-year wages from the employer exceed the SECURE 2.0 income threshold must make catch-up contributions as Roth, not pre-tax; plans without a Roth option cannot offer them catch-ups at all.

Hitting the limit exactly

To reach $24,500 without going over, divide by the number of paychecks:

• every two weeks: $942.31 a paycheck;
• twice a month: $1,020.84 a paycheck;
• monthly: $2,041.67 a paycheck.

With the age 50 catch-up, the biweekly figure is $1,250.00. Most plans take a percentage of pay rather than a dollar amount, so round the percentage down and top up near the end of the year. Payroll systems usually stop deferrals at the limit, but if your plan matches each paycheck, reaching the limit early can cost part of the match for the months when you contribute nothing. Ask whether your plan has a “true-up” before front-loading.

What a contribution really costs

A traditional 401(k) deferral comes out before federal income tax, so it costs less than its face value. On a $90,000 salary, single, deferring 10% puts $9,000 into the account over the year. In Texas the federal tax saving is $1,980, so take-home pay falls by only $7,020, or $270.00 a paycheck.

In California the state’s own tax saving is added: take-home falls by $6,099, and the combined tax saving is $2,901.

Pennsylvania is the exception. It taxes 401(k) deferrals as wages, so a Pennsylvania employee saves only the federal tax: $1,980, with a take-home cost of $7,020, the same as Texas. In our rules, the only state that taxes deferrals this way is Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania does not tax the withdrawals later, so the money is not taxed twice; it is just taxed at the other end.

Maxing out on a $150,000 salary takes a 16.34% deferral rate. The $24,500 contribution saves $5,880 of federal tax in Texas and costs $18,620 of take-home pay.

Social Security and Medicare still apply to 401(k) deferrals, at 7.65% combined, which is why the FICA wages on a pay stub are higher than the income tax wages. The pay stub guide shows both.

Roth or traditional

The limit is the same either way. A Roth deferral costs its full face value in take-home pay now and is tax-free later. The traditional one saves tax now at your current marginal rate and is taxed at your rate in retirement. If you expect a lower rate in retirement, traditional usually wins; if higher, Roth. Many people split their contributions because nobody knows their future rate.

Health savings accounts

An HSA is available only with a qualifying high-deductible health plan. The 2026 limits are $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage, including anything your employer puts in. At 55 or older you can add $1,000.

Through payroll, HSA contributions skip federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, which makes them the most tax-efficient account on the stub. Contributions made directly, outside payroll, get the income tax deduction on the return but not the FICA saving. Withdrawals for qualified medical costs are tax-free, and unused money stays in the account from year to year.

Two states do not follow the federal treatment: California and New Jersey tax HSA contributions as ordinary income, and investment earnings inside the account as they arise.

Health and dependent care FSAs

A health care flexible spending account takes up to $3,400 in 2026, free of income tax and FICA. Unlike an HSA, the money is mostly use-it-or-lose-it, with either a short grace period or a limited carryover depending on the plan. You cannot contribute to a general-purpose health FSA and an HSA in the same year.

IRAs

The IRA limit is $7,500, plus $1,100 at 50 or older. It is separate from the 401(k) limit, so you can contribute to both. Whether a traditional IRA contribution is deductible depends on your income if you also have a workplace plan, and Roth IRA contributions phase out at higher incomes. A backdoor Roth, a non-deductible traditional contribution converted to Roth, is the common route around the Roth limit.

Priorities when money is tight

A common order is: contribute enough to the 401(k) to get the full employer match, then fund an HSA if you have one, then return to the 401(k) or an IRA. The match is an immediate return that no investment can beat, and the HSA’s triple tax break is unusual. The retirement calculator shows what each choice grows to.

Every figure on this page is computed by the same code as our calculators. How we calculate.