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Reference

2026 IRS & PBGC Retirement Plan Limits

Curcio Webb  ·  Updated for the 2026 plan year

Each fall the IRS releases the cost-of-living adjustments that reset the contribution and benefit limits governing qualified retirement plans, and the PBGC publishes the premium rates single-employer defined benefit plans will pay. The 2026 figures below come from IRS Notice 2025-67 (released November 13, 2025) and the PBGC's 2026 premium schedule. We keep this page current so plan sponsors and their committees have one dependable reference for the numbers that drive plan administration, nondiscrimination testing, and pension funding.

2026 IRS retirement plan limits

Limit20262025
401(k), 403(b) & 457(b) elective deferral (§402(g))$24,500$23,500
Age 50+ catch-up contribution$8,000$7,500
Age 60–63 “super” catch-up (SECURE 2.0)$11,250$11,250
Defined contribution annual additions (§415(c))$72,000$70,000
Defined benefit annual benefit (§415(b))$290,000$280,000
Annual compensation limit (§401(a)(17))$360,000$350,000
Highly compensated employee threshold (§414(q))$160,000$160,000
Key employee officer threshold (§416(i))$235,000$230,000
SIMPLE plan elective deferral$17,000$16,500
SIMPLE age 50+ catch-up$4,000$3,500
IRA contribution limit$7,500$7,000
IRA age 50+ catch-up$1,100$1,000
Social Security taxable wage base$184,500$176,100

Source: IRS Notice 2025-67. The highly compensated employee threshold is unchanged for 2026.

A note on the SECURE 2.0 catch-up changes

Two SECURE 2.0 provisions now shape catch-up contributions and warrant a second look during open enrollment and payroll setup:

  • The age 60–63 “super” catch-up. Participants who reach age 60, 61, 62, or 63 during the year may contribute up to $11,250 in catch-up, roughly 150% of the standard age-50 amount. Confirm your recordkeeper's payroll files apply the higher limit only to that age band.
  • The Roth catch-up requirement for higher earners. Under SECURE 2.0, catch-up contributions for employees whose prior-year FICA wages exceed the indexed threshold must be made on a Roth basis. Plans without a Roth source, and payroll integrations that cannot route catch-up by wage level, are the two failure points we see most often.

2026 PBGC premium rates (single-employer plans)

Premium20262025
Flat-rate premium (per participant)$111$106
Variable-rate premium (per $1,000 of unfunded vested benefits)$52$52
Variable-rate premium per-participant cap$751$717

Source: PBGC 2026 premium rates. The variable-rate premium is no longer indexed and holds at $52 per $1,000 of unfunded vested benefits.

Getting the new limits into payroll

Knowing the new limits is the easy part. Plans usually get into trouble when the limits are loaded into payroll and recordkeeping systems. Two questions we would ask any committee heading into a new plan year:

  • Did your recordkeeper and payroll provider load the new deferral, catch-up, and compensation limits on the same effective date, and were the age-band catch-ups configured correctly?
  • For DB sponsors, is a rising PBGC flat-rate premium being weighed against funding and risk-transfer strategy, or simply paid?
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This page is provided for general information and does not constitute tax, legal, or investment advice. Figures are drawn from IRS Notice 2025-67 and the PBGC's published 2026 premium rates; sponsors should confirm application to their specific plans with counsel or their actuary.