Answer: The 401(k) elective deferral limit for 2026 is $24,500, subject to cost-of-living adjustments.
Status: Confirmed
Entry: tax/401k-limit
Revision: 1
Digest: sha256:58f19cf9a6aa1e0b (changes whenever the content changes)

Timeline:
  Created: 2026-11-12T10:36:55Z
  Last changed: 2026-11-12T10:36:55Z
  Last verified: 2026-11-12T11:34:12Z
  Next check: 2026-11-13T11:34:12Z
  Check interval: Daily
  Expected change: No fixed schedule

Data:
  Field | Value | Unit | Source | As of
  401(k) elective deferral limit | $24,500 | USD | [1] | 2026-11-12
  catch-up contribution limit (age 50+) | $8,000 | USD | [1] | 2026-11-12
  higher catch-up limit (ages 60-63) | $11,250 | USD | [1] | 2026-11-12
  overall annual additions limit | $72,000 | USD | [1] | 2026-11-12
  compensation limit | $360,000 | USD | [1] | 2026-11-12

Sources:
  [1] Internal Revenue Service. "Retirement topics - 401(k) and profit-sharing plan contribution limits | Internal Revenue Service". https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-401k-and-profit-sharing-plan-contribution-limits
      Role: primary. Accessed: 2026-11-12T11:34:12Z
      Quote: "The limit on employee elective deferrals (for traditional and safe harbor plans) is: $24,500 in 2026, subject to cost-of-living adjustments" (Supports: 401(k) elective deferral limit)
      Quote: "$8,000 in 2026 to traditional and safe harbor 401(k) plans." (Supports: catch-up contribution limit (age 50+))
      Quote: "For 2026, this higher catch-up contribution limit is $11,250." (Supports: higher catch-up limit (ages 60-63))
      Quote: "$72,000 in 2026 ($80,000 including catch-up contributions or up to $83,250 for those age 60 to 63), subject to cost-of-living adjustments." (Supports: overall annual additions limit)
      Quote: "The amount of your compensation that can be taken into account when determining employer and employee contributions is limited to $360,000 for 2026, subject to cost-of-living adjustments." (Supports: compensation limit)
      Published: 2026-11-12T11:26:50Z
      Snapshot SHA-256: c45105f4a84f5c940c7a14b0da4eabb6cc265b16b68494b4879daa8f3eebb1a5 (captured 2026-11-12T10:36:55Z)

Verification:
  Method: Automated extraction from [1] with deepseek-flash (JSON output, thinking disabled). Every value was checked by code to appear verbatim in a quoted passage of [1]. On this check the text of [1] was unchanged since 2026-11-12T10:36:55Z, so the values verified then were kept.
  Cross-check: not-available at 2026-11-12T11:34:12Z. No independent second source is configured for this entry
  Last successful check: 2026-11-12T11:34:12Z
  Last attempt: 2026-11-12T11:34:12Z

Notes and limitations:
  Extracted automatically from a single official source.

Change log:
  Time | Event | Change | Source
  2026-11-12T10:36:55Z | added | Entry created | —
  Changes for this entry as a feed: https://latestn.com/tax/401k-limit/latest

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How to cite:
    latestN. (2026). What is the 401(k) contribution limit this year? Revision 1, last verified 2026-11-12T11:34:12Z. https://latestn.com/tax/401k-limit (accessed 2026-11-12T12:52:56Z).

    @misc{latestN_tax_401k_limit_r1,
      title        = {What is the 401(k) contribution limit this year?},
      author       = {{latestN}},
      year         = {2026},
      howpublished = {\url{https://latestn.com/tax/401k-limit}},
      note         = {Revision 1; digest sha256:58f19cf9a6aa1e0b; last verified 2026-11-12T11:34:12Z; accessed 2026-11-12T12:52:56Z}
    }

URL: https://latestn.com/tax/401k-limit