How IRS Retirement Limits Have Changed: 2017–2026
Every fall, the IRS announces next year's retirement contribution limits. One year's change looks small — five hundred dollars here, a thousand there. But stack ten years of announcements side by side and a bigger story appears: the 401(k) deferral limit grew 36% since 2017, the total 401(k) additions cap grew 33%, and the Social Security wage base grew 45%. This page keeps the whole ten-year grid in one place.
What you can put in each year: the employee limits
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 401(k) / 403(b) / 457(b) employee deferral | $18,000 | $18,500 | $19,000 | $19,500 | $19,500 | $20,500 | $22,500 | $23,000 | $23,500 | $24,500 |
| 401(k) catch-up (age 50+) | $6,000 | $6,000 | $6,000 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $7,500 | $7,500 | $7,500 | $8,000 |
| Super catch-up (ages 60–63, SECURE 2.0) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | $11,250 | $11,250 |
| IRA (Traditional or Roth) | $5,500 | $5,500 | $6,000 | $6,000 | $6,000 | $6,000 | $6,500 | $7,000 | $7,000 | $7,500 |
| IRA catch-up (age 50+) | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,100 |
| SIMPLE IRA employee deferral | $12,500 | $12,500 | $13,000 | $13,500 | $13,500 | $14,000 | $15,500 | $16,000 | $16,500 | $17,000 |
Two things stand out. First, the long flat stretches: the 401(k) catch-up sat at $6,000 for years at a time because the law only raises it in $500 steps — inflation has to accumulate past a rounding threshold before anything moves. Second, the jump between 2022 and 2023: the deferral limit rose $2,000 in a single year, the largest one-year increase ever, because 2022's inflation spike flowed straight into the indexing formula.
The account-level and employer-side limits
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 415(c) total additions (401(k) all sources) | $54,000 | $55,000 | $56,000 | $57,000 | $58,000 | $61,000 | $66,000 | $69,000 | $70,000 | $72,000 |
| 401(a)(17) compensation cap | $270,000 | $275,000 | $280,000 | $285,000 | $290,000 | $305,000 | $330,000 | $345,000 | $350,000 | $360,000 |
| 415(b) defined-benefit annual limit | $215,000 | $220,000 | $225,000 | $230,000 | $230,000 | $245,000 | $265,000 | $275,000 | $280,000 | $290,000 |
| HSA — self-only coverage | $3,400 | $3,450 | $3,500 | $3,550 | $3,600 | $3,650 | $3,850 | $4,150 | $4,300 | $4,400 |
| HSA — family coverage | $6,750 | $6,900 | $7,000 | $7,100 | $7,200 | $7,300 | $7,750 | $8,300 | $8,550 | $8,750 |
| Social Security wage base | $127,200 | $128,400 | $132,900 | $137,700 | $142,800 | $147,000 | $160,200 | $168,600 | $176,100 | $184,500 |
The 415(c) cap — the ceiling on everything going into a 401(k), including employer money and after-tax contributions — climbed from $54,000 to $72,000. That 33% rise is why the "mega backdoor Roth" strategy got more powerful every year: the gap between the employee deferral and the total cap is the space that strategy lives in.
The big-picture numbers: estate exemption and top tax rate
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estate exemption (per person) | $5.49M | $11.18M | $11.40M | $11.58M | $11.70M | $12.06M | $12.92M | $13.61M | $13.99M | $15.00M |
| Top marginal income-tax rate | 39.6% | 37.0% | 37.0% | 37.0% | 37.0% | 37.0% | 37.0% | 37.0% | 37.0% | 37.0% |
The estate exemption tells the most dramatic story in the grid: it doubled overnight in 2018 (the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act), was scheduled to fall back by half after 2025, and instead was made permanent at $15 million by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025. The top income-tax rate dropped from 39.6% to 37% in 2018 and — after OBBBA — stays there.
Why the numbers move: the indexing machinery
None of these increases require Congress to act. Each limit is tied to inflation by formula, but each rounds differently: the 401(k) deferral moves in $500 steps, the 415(c) cap and compensation cap in $1,000 and $5,000 steps, the IRA limit in $500 steps (and its catch-up, frozen at $1,000 from 2006 through 2023, only became indexed under SECURE 2.0 — its first-ever increase came in 2026). The Social Security wage base uses a different index entirely — national average wages, not consumer prices — which is why it grew 45% while the CPI-linked limits grew about a third.
The practical effect: in low-inflation years (2016, 2021) many limits freeze, and in high-inflation years (2022–2023) they leap. A saver who "maxes out" is automatically saving more every few years without changing a single decision.
The laws that bent the curve
| Year | Law | What it changed |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) | Cut the top rate to 37%, roughly doubled the standard deduction (ending itemizing for ~90% of households), capped SALT deductions, and doubled the estate exemption — all originally temporary through 2025. |
| 2019 | SECURE Act | Raised the RMD age from 70½ to 72, killed the "stretch IRA" for most heirs (the 10-year rule), and removed the age limit on Traditional IRA contributions. |
| 2020 | CARES Act | Suspended RMDs for one year and allowed penalty-free early withdrawals during the pandemic — a reminder that these rules can change fast in a crisis. |
| 2022 | SECURE 2.0 | Raised the RMD age again (73, then 75 in 2033), created the super catch-up for ages 60–63, indexed the IRA catch-up, forced high earners' catch-ups into Roth (effective 2026), and turned the QLAC cap into a flat indexed dollar limit. |
| 2025 | One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) | Made the TCJA structure permanent: 37% top rate, doubled standard deduction, $15M estate exemption, permanent QBI deduction and 100% bonus depreciation, and a $40,000 SALT cap. |
What it means for the decade of tax deferral
Put the grids together and the trend is one-directional: the tax code has steadily expanded how much income Americans can shelter each year. A 45-year-old couple maxing a 401(k) each in 2017 could defer $36,000 of salary; the same couple in 2026 can defer $49,000 — before counting IRAs, HSAs, catch-ups, or employer money. Meanwhile the deductibility phaseouts for Traditional IRAs and the Roth income limits have drifted upward with inflation, letting more households in each year.
The lesson of the grid is not any single number. It is that the limits are a moving target that ratchets upward — and a plan written around 2017's numbers leaves real money on the table in 2026. Check the current year's limits every January, or use a tool that does it for you.
Sources
- IRS Notice 2025-67 (2026 retirement plan limits): irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-25-67.pdf — and the corresponding annual notices back to Notice 2016-62.
- Rev. Proc. 2025-19 (2026 HSA limits): irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-19.pdf
- Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments, incl. estate exemption): irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
- SSA fact sheets (wage base history): ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html