A well-liked tax break for staff nearing retirement age permitting them to make further catch-up contributions is altering subsequent yr, which is able to restrict entry to some excessive earners.
The IRS issued new laws final month to implement a provision of a 2022 regulation generally known as the SECURE 2.0 Act, which requires that top earners who earned $145,000 or extra in gross earnings as a person the prior yr make 401(ok) catch-up contributions to after-tax Roth accounts beginning with the 2026 tax yr.
Below the foundations that can stay in impact by means of the 2025 tax yr, staff aged 50 and up have been eligible to make their 401(ok) catch-up contributions to both a before-tax conventional account or an after-tax Roth account, relying on their choice and what their retirement plan permits.
Making catch-up contributions on a before-tax foundation allowed staff to obtain an upfront tax break by utilizing a deduction to scale back their taxable earnings — however the change signifies that excessive earners over the earnings threshold received’t have that choice beginning within the 2026 tax yr.
Catch-up contributions are made along with regular contributions to 401(ok) accounts.
In 2025, eligible staff over the age of fifty could make an additional $7,500 in contributions to their 401(ok) in catch-up contributions along with the usual contribution restrict of $23,500 for staff below 50.
There’s additionally the next restrict for staff between the ages of 60 and 63, who could make as much as $11,250 in catch-up contributions in 2025.
Employees whose employer-sponsored retirement plans don’t at the moment have Roth 401(ok) choices could also be unable to make catch-up contributions till one turns into obtainable.
The Wall Avenue Journal reported that employers have been including Roth 401(ok) choices, with Constancy now together with it as an choice in 95% of managed plans, up from 73% two years in the past, whereas 86% of Vanguard-managed 401(ok) plans supply a Roth.
Whereas savers who contribute to conventional 401(ok) accounts obtain the upfront tax break, they do owe earnings taxes for future withdrawals.
In contrast, contributions to Roth accounts lack the preliminary tax break however have tax-free development and withdrawals.
