{"id":508956,"date":"2026-01-11T17:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T17:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/508956\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T17:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T17:20:12","slug":"what-investors-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/508956\/","title":{"rendered":"What investors need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Damircudic | E+ | Getty Images<\/p>\n

As more older Americans near retirement<\/a>, many are eager to boost 401(k) savings<\/a> to combat the rising cost of health care<\/a> and other day-to-day expenses. And for 2026, there are key 401(k) changes<\/a> that investors need to know, financial experts say. <\/p>\n

This year, “small 401(k) details matter more than ever,” said certified financial planner Joon Um with Secure Tax and Accounting in Hayward, California.<\/p>\n

For 2026, you can defer up to $24,500<\/a> into your 401(k) plan, up from $23,500 in 2025. The full plan limit<\/a>, which includes employer matches<\/a>, profit sharing and other contributions, is $72,000.<\/p>\n

There’s also a higher 401(k) catch-up contribution limit<\/a>. In 2026, investors age 50 and older can save an additional $8,000 per year, up from $7,500 in 2025.\u00a0The “super catch-up” limit<\/a> for savers age 60 to 63 remains at $11,250 for 2026.<\/p>\n

Individual retirement account<\/a> contribution limits also rose for 2026. The new cap is $7,500, up from $7,000 in 2025. Investors age 50 and older can make a $1,100 catch-up contribution, up from $1,000 the previous year. <\/strong> <\/p>\n

Read more CNBC personal finance coverage<\/p>\n

The latest 401(k) changes<\/a> come as many older Americans don’t feel ready<\/a> for their golden years. <\/p>\n

More than one-third of U.S. adults have delayed or plan to delay retirement<\/a>, according to a New York Life survey that polled roughly 2,300 adults in September. The top two reasons were not enough savings and inflation.<\/p>\n

So-called “defined contribution plans,” which include 401(k)s, are the primary retirement savings tool for many private sector U.S. workers. These plans covered more than 100,000 million <\/a>participants in 2023, according to a September report from the Department of Labor.<\/p>\n

Most don’t max out 401(k) plans<\/p>\n

“Higher [401(k)] deferral limits are helpful, but only if contributions are actually adjusted,” Um said.<\/p>\n

In 2024, some 45% of participants <\/a>boosted 401(k) deferrals \u2014 on their own or as part of their plan’s automatic increases<\/a> \u2014 according to Vanguard’s 2025 How America Saves report, which is based on more than 1,400 plans and nearly 5 million participants.<\/p>\n

However, only 14% of participants maxed out their 401(k)s<\/a> in 2024, and the average combined savings rate<\/a>, including employer deposits, was an estimated 12%, according to the same report.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We’re encouraging clients to revisit this early in the year,” Um said.<\/p>\n

Roth catch-up contributions for higher earners<\/p>\n

If you’re age 50 and older, your 401(k) catch-up contributions can be traditional pretax or after-tax Roth, depending on what your plan allows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But starting in 2026, certain higher earners must make Roth catch-up contributions<\/a>, based on a Secure 2.0 Act<\/a> of 2022 change.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Neil Krishnaswamy, a CFP and president of Krishna\u00a0Wealth Planning in McKinney, Texas, has talked with clients about the 401(k) change. <\/p>\n

In 2026, your 401(k) catch-up contributions generally must be Roth if you earned more than $150,000<\/a> from the same employer in 2025. You can find out if this applies to you by reviewing the gross income on your final 2025 paystub, Krishnaswamy said.<\/p>\n

But the “Roth mandate” doesn’t apply this year if you started a new job on Jan. 1, 2026, “even if you earned $1 million at your previous firm,” he said. You’re also exempt if you exceeded the $150,000 threshold via multiple employers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Damircudic | E+ | Getty Images As more older Americans near retirement, many are eager to boost 401(k)…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":508957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[12159,64,81,12157,12156,6764,26391,86146,255,12158,708,53834,618,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-508956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-401k-plans","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-business-news","11":"tag-financial-advisors","12":"tag-financial-planners","13":"tag-financial-planning","14":"tag-government-taxation-and-revenue","15":"tag-national-taxes","16":"tag-personal-finance","17":"tag-personal-investing","18":"tag-retirement-planning","19":"tag-tax-planning","20":"tag-taxes","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115877617549693494","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}