2028 401(k) Contribution Limit

The 2028 401(k) employee contribution limit is projected at $24,500 (from $23,500 in 2027). The SECURE 2.0 super-catch-up of $11,250 applies only to ages 60-63 — a key planning window before RMDs kick in.

2028 Projected Limits

Base $24,500 employee. Standard catch-up (50+): $8,000. SECURE 2.0 super-catch-up (60-63): $11,250. Total possible: $43,750 for ages 60-63. Employer match does not count against the employee limit but counts toward the $73,500 total annual additions cap.

Roth vs Pre-Tax

2028 limits apply across both Roth and pre-tax combined. Split based on tax bracket today vs retirement. High earners: prefer pre-tax. Low earners: prefer Roth. SECURE 2.0 made super-catch-ups Roth-only for high earners (above $145k W-2 wages, indexed).

Catch-Up Mechanics

Standard catch-up activates the year you turn 50. Super-catch-up activates Jan 1 of the year you turn 60 and ends Dec 31 of the year you turn 63. At 64, you return to the standard catch-up.

Employer Match

Most plans match 50% up to 6% of salary. Match counts toward the $73,500 (projected 2028) total contributions ceiling. Always contribute enough to capture the full match — leaving it on the table is a guaranteed loss.

The Roth Catch-Up Rule That Changes Who Can Deduct in 2028

The limit is only half the planning question — the other half is whether your catch-up is even allowed to be pre-tax. Under SECURE 2.0 section 603, a participant whose prior-year Social Security wages from that employer exceed an indexed threshold (about $145,000 when the rule was written, roughly $150,000 once indexed) must make all catch-up contributions as Roth. By 2028 this is settled law rather than a proposal, and it applies to both the standard $8,000 catch-up and the $11,250 super-catch-up. A 61-year-old earning $200,000 does not get an $11,250 deduction in 2028; they get an $11,250 Roth contribution with no current-year tax break.

Two consequences worth planning around. First, if your plan does not offer a Roth source, an affected high earner may be barred from making catch-up contributions at all until the plan adds one — worth checking with your plan administrator well before you turn 60. Second, the threshold looks at wages from that specific employer in the prior year, so a job change mid-career can reset your status: someone who joins a new employer in 2027 may have no prior-year wages with them and can make a pre-tax catch-up in 2028. The IRS rules are set out in IRS Notice 2023-62, with current limits published on the IRS 401(k) contribution limits page.

For high earners the sequencing usually flips: capture the full employer match first, take the base $24,500 pre-tax if your bracket justifies it, then treat the mandatory-Roth catch-up as what it is — tax-free growth bought at today's marginal rate. That trade is favourable if you expect a similar or higher rate in retirement, which is common for anyone with a large pre-tax balance already facing RMDs. Every figure above for 2028 is a projection based on IRS cost-of-living indexing; the official numbers land in late 2027. Updated 2026-08-26.

How the 2028 401(k) Limit Is Projected — and How Firm the Number Is

Every figure on this page is a projection, so it is worth knowing exactly how it is built and where it can move. The elective deferral limit is indexed under IRC §415(d) to the change in the CPI-U through the third quarter of the preceding year, and the result is rounded down to the nearest $500. That rounding step is why the limit rises in $500 steps rather than smoothly, and why a projection can be exactly right or exactly $500 low — it almost never lands anywhere in between. Two practical implications. First, moderate inflation between now and Q3 2027 changes nothing: the $24,500 projection only becomes $25,000 if cumulative CPI-U clears the next $500 boundary. Second, the catch-up amounts round differently — the standard catch-up indexes in $500 steps and the SECURE 2.0 super-catch-up is defined as the greater of $10,000 or 150% of the standard catch-up, indexed. The IRS confirms the real numbers in a COLA notice each October, roughly 14 months before the year begins; treat this calculator as a planning figure until then, and check the official IRS 401(k) contribution limits page after that notice lands. Updated 2026-09-05.

Two Jobs in 2028? The $24,500 Limit Is Yours, Not Your Employer’s

This is the error that most often produces a real tax bill. The elective deferral limit applies per person, across every plan you participate in — not per employer — and no payroll system can see the other job. Change employers mid-year, or run a W-2 job alongside a Solo 401(k), and it is entirely possible to defer $24,500 twice while both plans report a clean year. If it happens, the fix has a hard deadline: notify one plan and request a corrective distribution of the excess deferral plus its earnings by 15 April of the following year. Meet it and the excess is taxed once, in the year it was deferred. Miss it and the same money is taxed twice — once in the contribution year and again when finally distributed — with no basis credit. Practical routine: total your year-to-date deferrals from both final pay stubs each December, and cap the second plan yourself rather than assuming the payroll system will. The employer match is not part of this test; it counts only toward the separate total-additions ceiling. Updated 2026-09-05.

Hitting the 2028 Limit Without Losing Employer Match: Per-Paycheck Pacing

Knowing the annual cap is only half the job; the deferral percentage you set has to land on it without arriving early. Divide the annual target by your number of pay periods and convert that to a percentage of gross pay, because payroll applies a percentage rather than a dollar goal. The trap is front-loading. Most plans match per pay period, not per year, so a contributor who maxes out in September stops deferring for the last three months and the match stops with them. That forfeited match is real money and no payroll system warns you. Two defences: check your summary plan description for a true-up provision, which retroactively pays the match you would have earned had you spread contributions evenly, and if the plan has no true-up, pace deferrals to finish with the final cheque of December rather than early. The IRS 401(k) Plans resource guide confirms that match formulas and true-up rules are set by each plan document, not by statute — so this is a per-employer question you have to ask, not one you can assume. Updated 2026-09-15.

Last updated August 2026. Sources: IRS COLA, IRS Notice 2023-62.