You can contribute $7,500.00 to a Roth IRA for 2026. After 30 years at 7%, the account holds $834,170.36, of which $599,170.36 is modeled investment growth; actual tax-free withdrawals require qualified-distribution conditions. The Roth leaves $41,599.65 more after tax than a traditional IRA; the traditional IRA would win only if your tax rate in retirement were below 16.51%.
2026 Roth IRA phase-out for your filing status
After-tax value: Roth vs traditional
Roth IRATraditional IRA after tax
Roth vs traditional, year by year Rows: 30
Year
Age
Contribution
Roth balance
Traditional balance (pre-tax)
Invested tax savings
Traditional after tax
1
35
$7,500.00
$18,725.00
$8,025.00
$1,740.09
$18,699.59
2
36
$7,500.00
$28,060.75
$16,611.75
$3,575.19
$27,981.35
3
37
$7,500.00
$38,050.00
$25,799.57
$5,510.48
$37,884.58
4
38
$7,500.00
$48,738.50
$35,630.54
$7,551.45
$48,451.23
5
39
$7,500.00
$60,175.20
$46,149.68
$9,703.85
$59,726.11
6
40
$7,500.00
$72,412.46
$57,405.16
$11,973.77
$71,757.09
7
41
$7,500.00
$85,506.33
$69,448.52
$14,367.62
$84,595.28
8
42
$7,500.00
$99,516.78
$82,334.92
$16,892.19
$98,295.28
9
43
$7,500.00
$114,507.95
$96,123.36
$19,554.59
$112,915.40
10
44
$7,500.00
$130,548.51
$110,876.99
$22,362.36
$128,517.93
How it's calculated S
Starting limit for 2026
L=7,500.00
$7,500.00 (IRS Notice 2025-67).
Income phase-out
Modified AGI of $90,000.00 is below $153,000.00, where the phase-out starts, so the full limit applies.
The calculator first finds how much you may put in a Roth IRA this year: $7,500 for 2026, or $8,600 from age 50, reduced step by step as modified AGI crosses the phase-out range for your filing status, using the IRS worksheet in Publication 590-A. It then grows the current balance and a contribution at the start of each year at your return. For comparison, the same contributions go into a traditional IRA, where they are deducted now, taxed at your later rate on withdrawal, and the yearly tax saving is invested in a taxable account.
With the defaults, a single 35-year-old with $90,000 of modified AGI has a modeled $7,500 contribution limit. Thirty years at 7% turn $10,000 plus $225,000 of contributions into $834,170.36. The projection does not tax those earnings; actual tax-free withdrawals require the qualified-distribution conditions to be met.
Limits, income and tax rates are held at this year's levels. Withdrawals of earnings are tax-free once the account is 5 years old and you are 59½.
How much can you put in a Roth IRA in 2026?
The 2026 Roth IRA limit is $7,500, or $8,600 from age 50, and it shrinks as modified AGI crosses the phase-out range for your filing status. Below $153,000 single or $242,000 joint you can contribute in full; from $168,000 single or $252,000 joint, nothing directly.
Contributing $7,500 at the start of each year for 30 years at 7%, on top of $10,000 already in the account, grows to about $834,170. Earnings on that balance are tax-free only when withdrawn in a qualified distribution.
Single or head of household, and married filing separately if you lived apart all year: $153,000 to $168,000 (2025: $150,000 to $165,000).
Married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouse: $242,000 to $252,000 (2025: $236,000 to $246,000).
Married filing separately, having lived with your spouse at any time in the year: $0 to $10,000 in both years.
For 2025 the limit was $7,000, or $8,000 from age 50. The limit is shared with traditional IRAs, so $3,000 in a traditional IRA for 2026 leaves $4,500 for a Roth, and you cannot contribute more than your taxable compensation.
How a reduced contribution is calculated
Publication 590-A Worksheet 2-2 works in three steps:
Divide how far your modified AGI is into the range by the range width: $15,000 for single filers, $10,000 for joint and separate filers.
Multiply your limit by that fraction and subtract the result from the limit.
Round up to the next $10. A result above $0 but under $200 becomes $200.
Applied to four incomes:
Single, $160,500 in 2026: halfway through the range, so $7,500 falls to $3,750.
Single, $167,800: the formula gives $100, so the $200 minimum applies.
Single, $151,000 in 2025, the IRS's own worksheet example: $6,540.
How much will a Roth IRA grow?
Each contribution goes in at the start of the year and earns that year's return: next balance = (balance + contribution) × (1 + return).
The rows below keep a single 35-year-old with $10,000 saved, $7,500 planned each year, 7% and 30 years, and change only modified AGI: $90,000, $160,500 and $168,000.
Scenario
Contribution limit this year
Ending Roth balance
Default
7500.00
834170.36
Half phase-out
3750.00
469934.89
Phase-out ceiling
0.00
76122.55
At the half phase-out the limit stays halved throughout, rising from $3,750 to $4,300 at age 50 when the halved catch-up is added. At the ceiling no new money goes in, and the $10,000 alone grows to $76,122.55.
The projection holds the chosen year's limits, income and filing status fixed while you age, so it never assumes future limit increases.
Roth or traditional IRA?
A traditional IRA deducts the contribution now and taxes every dollar withdrawn. A Roth taxes the money first and releases qualified withdrawals tax-free.
The comparison assumes the traditional contributions are deductible and that their yearly tax saving is invested in a taxable account.
At 22% now and 22% in retirement, the Roth ends $41,599.65 ahead in the default case, because the invested tax savings lose part of their return to tax each year.
With 22% now, the traditional IRA wins only if your retirement rate is below 16.51%: at 15% later, it ends $11,463.70 ahead.
The tax rates are your marginal federal plus state rates. Your existing Roth balance counts as Roth money on both sides.
When are Roth IRA earnings tax-free?
Earnings come out tax-free in a qualified distribution, which generally requires the account to be at least five years old and you to be 59½ or meet another qualifying condition (Publication 590-B).
Roth IRAs also have no required minimum distributions during the owner's lifetime.
What if your income is too high?
Once modified AGI reaches the top of the range, direct contributions stop. The income limit applies to contributions, not conversions, so many people contribute to a traditional IRA and convert it, the backdoor Roth.
Pre-tax money in any traditional IRA makes part of that conversion taxable, because the tax-free share is figured across all your traditional IRAs (Publication 590-B, Worksheet 1-1).
Common mistakes
Using salary or AGI instead of modified AGI. Worksheet 2-1 in Publication 590-A adds certain items back to AGI.
Choosing the wrong separate-filing range. If you lived apart from your spouse all year, the single range applies, not $0 to $10,000.
Forgetting traditional IRA contributions. They use up the same annual limit.
Leaving an excess contribution in the account. Publication 590-A sets a 6% excise tax on excess contributions left in a Roth IRA.
Treating the projected balance as tax-free cash at any age. Early withdrawals of earnings can be taxed if the distribution is not qualified.
Related calculators
For workplace savings with an employer match, use the 401(k) calculator. For a full retirement-income plan, use the retirement calculator, and for the withdrawals traditional accounts require later, the RMD calculator.
Worked examples
IRS Publication 590-A Worksheet 2-2 example (2025, single, MAGI $151,000)
Defaults: single, 35, $90,000, $7,500 a year for 30 years at 7%
Tax year
2026
Your age at the end of the year
35 years
Filing status
Single or head of household
Modified AGI
90,000
Contribution per year
7500
Years of contributions
30 years
Investment return (per year)
7%
Current Roth IRA balance
10,000
Tax rate now
22%
Tax rate in retirement
22%
Roth IRA balance at the end
834,170.36
Your contribution limit this year
7,500.00
Traditional IRA instead, after tax
792,570.71
Roth advantage
41,599.65
Break-even tax rate in retirement
16.51%
Checked against: Contributions at the start of each year; tax savings grow at 7% × (1 − 22%)
Married filing jointly, age 55, halfway through the 2026 range
Tax year
2026
Your age at the end of the year
55 years
Filing status
Married filing jointly
Modified AGI
247,000
Contribution per year
8600
Years of contributions
10 years
Investment return (per year)
6%
Current Roth IRA balance
50,000
Tax rate now
24%
Tax rate in retirement
22%
Your contribution limit this year
4,300.00
Total contributions
43,000.00
Roth IRA balance at the end
149,620.45
Roth advantage
-79.61
Checked against: Worksheet 2-2 by hand: 8,600 × (1 − 5,000/10,000) = 4,300 (Notice 2025-67 range $242,000–$252,000); balances from exact decimal arithmetic
The $200 minimum near the top of the range
Tax year
2026
Your age at the end of the year
40 years
Filing status
Single or head of household
Modified AGI
167,800
Contribution per year
7500
Years of contributions
1 year
Investment return (per year)
0%
Current Roth IRA balance
0
Tax rate now
22%
Tax rate in retirement
22%
Your contribution limit this year
200.00
Checked against: Worksheet 2-2 by hand: 7,500 × (1 − 14,800/15,000) = 100, below $200, so $200
Questions
What is the Roth IRA contribution limit for 2026?
$7,500, or $8,600 if you are 50 or older, according to IRS Notice 2025-67. The limit is shared with traditional IRAs, so $3,000 in a traditional IRA leaves $4,500 for a Roth. You cannot contribute more than your taxable compensation for the year, and contributions for 2026 can be made until the due date of your 2026 return, not counting extensions.
What are the 2026 Roth IRA income limits?
The contribution phases out between $153,000 and $168,000 of modified AGI for single filers and heads of household, and between $242,000 and $252,000 for married couples filing jointly. Married filing separately, if you lived with your spouse, the range is $0 to $10,000. At $160,500 single, halfway through the range, the limit falls from $7,500 to $3,750.
How is a reduced Roth IRA contribution calculated?
Divide how far your modified AGI is into the range by the range width ($15,000, or $10,000 for joint and separate filers), multiply your limit by that fraction and subtract. Round the result up to the next $10, and if it is above zero but under $200, you may contribute $200. The IRS example in Publication 590-A: $151,000 single in 2025 gives $7,000 − 469 = $6,531, rounded to $6,540.
Is a Roth or a traditional IRA better?
This comparison assumes the traditional contributions are deductible and that the entered tax rates and returns apply throughout the projection. With the defaults, its Roth path ends about 41,599.65 ahead, with a modeled retirement-tax break-even rate of about 16.51%. The existing Roth balance remains Roth money in both alternatives. Actual deductibility, qualified Roth withdrawal conditions, investment taxes and future rates can change the comparison; the result does not establish which account is suitable or permitted.
Can I still use a Roth IRA if my income is too high?
Not by contributing directly once modified AGI reaches the top of the range, $168,000 single or $252,000 joint for 2026. The income limit applies to contributions, not to conversions, so many people contribute to a traditional IRA and convert it, the so-called backdoor Roth. Pre-tax money in any traditional IRA makes part of the conversion taxable, because the tax-free share is figured over the value of all your traditional IRAs (Publication 590-B, Worksheet 1-1).
For planning only. Lenders, tax authorities and markets apply their own rounding, fees and rules; confirm figures with them before you commit.
Checked against references
This calculator includes 6 worked examples with independently sourced answers. They run in the test suite, and you can run them here too.
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