401kCatch-Up Contributions
Once you turn 50, the tax code lets you contribute more to a 401(k) than younger savers — and from age 60 through 63, the extra amount is larger still.
Reviewed January 2026 against current IRS guidance.
The standard age-50 catch-up
Starting in the calendar year you turn 50, you're allowed to defer an additional amount beyond the standard employee elective deferral limit. This catch-up amount is indexed for inflation and adjusted periodically, separate from the base limit. See the contribution limits page for the current dollar figures.
You don't need to apply for this or notify the IRS — your plan simply allows additional deferrals once you're eligible, provided the plan itself permits catch-up contributions (most do, but it's technically optional for a plan to offer them).
The SECURE 2.0 “super” catch-up for ages 60–63
Starting in 2025, savers who are age 60, 61, 62, or 63 at any point during the year get an even larger catch-up limit than the standard age-50 amount — but only for those four specific ages. At 64 and beyond, the catch-up reverts to the standard age-50 amount.
This creates a narrow four-year window where the catch-up allowance is meaningfully higher than at any other age. Check the current dollar figures on the contribution limits page, since this is a newer provision and worth confirming against current IRS guidance.
The Roth catch-up requirement for higher earners
SECURE 2.0 also introduced a rule requiring that catch-up contributions be made as Roth (after-tax) contributions for employees whose prior-year FICA wages from that employer exceeded a set threshold. Employees under the threshold can still choose either traditional or Roth for their catch-up contributions. This requirement's effective date was delayed by IRS transition guidance after the law originally passed, so plans have had extra time to update their systems — confirm the current effective date and wage threshold, since both were subject to change during the transition period.
Catch-up contributions and the overall limit
Catch-up contributions are added on top of the overall (employee-plus-employer) Section 415 limit, not folded inside it — meaning an eligible saver's total possible contribution ceiling for the year is higher across the board once catch-up eligibility applies. See the table on the contribution limits page for exact figures.