Roth Catch-Up Wage Threshold 2027 Is Already $155,000
The 2027 Roth catch-up wage threshold lands at $155,000 whatever September CPI-U does, and the age 60-63 super catch-up at $11,750. Here is the math.
Most retirement-limit projections come with a hedge: the final number depends on a data release that has not happened yet. This one does not need the hedge. Two of the three catch-up figures that will govern your 401(k) in 2027, the wage level above which your catch-up contributions must go into a Roth account and the larger catch-up for people in their early sixties, are already mathematically fixed, even though the September inflation report has not been released yet. The short answer: the Roth catch-up wage threshold for 2027 will be $155,000, up from $150,000, and the super catch-up for ages 60 through 63 will be $11,750, up from $11,250. The only catch-up figure still genuinely open is the regular one for everyone 50 and older.
What the Roth catch-up rule actually says
SECURE 2.0 added a rule to the tax code that changed how higher earners make catch-up contributions, the extra amounts that workers 50 and older may defer beyond the normal annual limit. Under 26 U.S.C. § 414(v)(7)(A), if your wages subject to FICA (the Social Security and Medicare payroll tax, defined in § 3121(a)) for the preceding calendar year from the employer sponsoring the plan exceed $145,000, your catch-up contributions are allowed only as designated Roth contributions. Roth means you pay income tax on the money now and take it out tax-free in retirement, the reverse of the traditional pre-tax deduction. The $145,000 in the statute is the starting point, not the current figure, because § 414(v)(7)(E) indexes it every year in the same way as other retirement limits under § 415(d). The requirement does not reach SEP or SIMPLE IRAs at all; the limits for the latter are in our SIMPLE IRA limits 2027 projection.
The rule has teeth beyond the individual. Under § 414(v)(7)(B), if a plan has any participant who is caught by the threshold and the plan does not offer a Roth option, nobody in that plan may make catch-up contributions at all. That makes the rule a plan-design problem as much as a personal one: a single affected employee can take the catch-up privilege away from the whole workforce unless the plan offers Roth.
Why the 2027 number is already known
Most of the 2027 figures we track on the IRS 2027 inflation adjustments tracker are tied to the chained CPI-U over twelve months ending in August, and that series has the October 2025 gap caused by the government shutdown. Retirement plan limits use a different yardstick, and a much simpler one. The § 414(v)(7)(E) adjustment follows § 415(d), which compares the average CPI-U for the third quarter, July through September, with the average for the same quarter in a base year. For this threshold the base is the calendar quarter beginning July 1, 2023. Any increase is then rounded down to the next lower multiple of $5,000, so the threshold only moves when the underlying adjusted amount clears a $5,000 step.
The base-quarter figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (the not-seasonally-adjusted CPI-U, series CUUR0000SA0) are 305.691 for July 2023, 307.026 for August and 307.789 for September, which average 306.8353. We checked the method against last year’s result first. The third quarter of 2025 reads 323.048, 323.976 and 324.800, averaging 323.9413. Multiply $145,000 by 323.9413 and divide by 306.8353 and you get $153,083.72. Rounded down to a multiple of $5,000, that is $150,000, and $150,000 is exactly what the IRS announced in Notice 2025-67. The method works.
For 2027, two of the three months are in. July 2026 came in at 333.918 and August at 334.980. The September index appears on October 14, 2026. If September merely matches August, the third-quarter average is 334.626, and $145,000 scaled by that average is $158,132.93, which rounds down to $155,000. The result is not sensitive to September at all, because the next step up, $160,000, sits a long way away and so does the step down.
| September 2026 CPI-U | $145,000 scaled by the Q3 2026 average | Rounded threshold |
|---|---|---|
| 330 | $157,348.47 | $155,000 |
| 334.980 (equal to August) | $158,132.93 | $155,000 |
| 338 | $158,608.65 | $155,000 |
To drag the threshold down to $150,000, September would have to fall to 315.09, a drop of roughly 6 percent from August in a single month. To push it up to $160,000, September would have to jump to 346.83. Neither is a realistic reading of a price index that has been moving a fraction of a percent at a time, so $155,000 is as settled as an unpublished number can be.
Which year’s wages the threshold measures
In Notice 2025-67, published in November 2025, the agency wrote that “the Roth catch-up wage threshold for 2025, which under section 414(v)(7)(A) is used to determine whether an individual’s catch-up contributions to an applicable employer plan (other than a plan described in section 408(k) or (p)) for 2026 must be designated as Roth contributions, is increased from $145,000 to $150,000.” In other words, the IRS names the threshold after the wage year it tests. The $150,000 figure is compared against your 2025 wages and governs your 2026 catch-ups.
By the same logic, the threshold that the Notice published in November 2026 will carry is $155,000, and it is compared against your 2026 wages to decide your 2027 catch-ups. If you are planning your 2027 contributions, the year to look at on your paycheck is the one that is nearly over.
| Applies to catch-ups in 2026 | Applies to catch-ups in 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| Wage year tested | 2025 FICA wages | 2026 FICA wages |
| Roth catch-up wage threshold | $150,000 | $155,000 |
| Super catch-up, ages 60-63 | $11,250 | $11,750 |
| Regular catch-up, age 50+ | $8,000 | $8,000 or $8,500 |
What counts as FICA wages for the test
The regulations are specific that the relevant wages are those subject to Social Security tax under §§ 3101(a) and 3111(a), which is the amount in box 3 of your W-2, rather than the Medicare wages in box 5. The difference matters for certain state and local government employees who are not covered by Social Security and therefore have only box 5 wages, so they fall outside the rule altogether. If you want a refresher on the other boxes, our guide to W-2 box 12 codes and the explainer on how FICA payroll taxes work cover the surrounding mechanics.
A technical point that surprises people: your own pre-tax 401(k) deferrals do not lower box 3. They reduce box 1, the income-tax wage figure, but they remain Social Security wages. So the test does not look at the smaller box 1 amount; the box 3 figure is what counts. The ceiling on box 3 is the Social Security wage base, which is $184,500 in 2026 and sits well above the threshold, as we discuss in the 2027 Social Security wage base projection, so the cap will not hide anyone who is above $155,000.
Whose wages count? The employer “sponsoring the plan” means the common-law employer. In a plan with several participating employers, one employer’s wages are not added to another’s, although the plan may choose to aggregate them in certain cases. Someone with no FICA wages from the sponsoring employer in the prior year is not subject to the rule, which covers partners and self-employed people with only self-employment income, and also a brand-new hire in the first year at a company. The plan is allowed to apply a “deemed” Roth election, treating an affected participant’s catch-up as Roth by default, as long as the participant has a real opportunity to change it.
Four people, worked through
Numbers make this concrete, so here are four situations built straight from the rule.
A 52-year-old with $160,000 of FICA wages in 2026 from one employer. Her 2026 wages exceed the $155,000 threshold, so every dollar of her 2027 catch-up contributions must be Roth. Her regular deferrals can stay pre-tax; only the catch-up portion is affected.
An employee who earned $152,000 in FICA wages in both 2025 and 2026. In 2026 his catch-ups had to be Roth, because his 2025 wages of $152,000 exceeded that year’s $150,000 threshold. In 2027 the picture reverses, because his 2026 wages of $152,000 do not exceed $155,000. This is the real-world effect of a rising threshold: someone sitting between the two figures drops out of the Roth-only requirement without earning a dollar less.
A person who turns 61 in 2027 with $200,000 of 2026 FICA wages. She qualifies for the super catch-up and may contribute up to $11,750 as a catch-up, all of it as Roth, since her wages are well above $155,000.
A worker who changes employers in 2027. The wages from the old employer do not count for the new employer’s plan. At the new employer he has no prior-year FICA wages, so he is not subject to the Roth requirement during 2027, whatever he earned before.
The super catch-up for ages 60 to 63 is also settled
SECURE 2.0 created a larger catch-up for people who turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 during the year. Under § 414(v)(2)(E)(i) and (C)(i), the 2025 amount was the greater of $10,000 or 150 percent of the 2024 catch-up of $7,500, which works out to $11,250. From 2026 on it is indexed using a base of the third quarter of 2024, and any increase is rounded down to a multiple of $500.
The base-quarter readings are 314.540, 314.796 and 315.301, with an average of 314.879. As a control, the 2026 test: $11,250 multiplied by 323.9413 and divided by 314.879 is $11,573.78, which rounds down to $11,250, and Notice 2025-67 states that the amount “remains $11,250.” Another control matched, which puts our count at 2 out of 2.
For 2027, if September equals August, the same calculation gives $11,955.52, which rounds down to $11,750. A September reading of 330 gives $11,896.21 and one of 338 gives $11,991.49, and both also round to $11,750. For the figure to fall back to $11,250, September would need to drop to 317.72, and for it to reach $12,250 it would need to rise to 359.71. So $11,750 is determined for anyone who turns 60, 61, 62 or 63 in 2027. If you are in that age range and your prior-year wages exceed the threshold, the full $11,750 goes in as Roth. The ordinary limits are summarized in our 2027 401(k) and IRA contribution limits projection, which also tracks the one catch-up number that is not yet fixed.
The one number that is still open
The regular catch-up for everyone 50 and older follows the same third-quarter logic, but with a $500 rounding step that makes it sensitive to September. It is $8,000 in 2026. For 2027 it will be either $8,000 or $8,500, and the dividing line is a September CPI-U of 335.112. If September equals August, the unrounded figure comes to $8,498.78, which rounds down to $8,000, uncomfortably close to the line. Wait for it before setting 2027 deferrals; plan around the other two today.
The first year under final regulations
2027 also matters for a legal reason. The Treasury issued final regulations on catch-up contributions in T.D. 10033, published at 90 FR 44527 on September 16, 2025, effective November 17, 2025. They state that they “generally apply with respect to contributions in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026,” which makes 2027 the first year the final rules apply by their terms. Until then, plans operated under a standard of reasonable, good faith interpretation of the statute.
There was also a transition. Notice 2023-62 gave an administrative grace period covering the first two years beginning after December 31, 2023, which meant 2024 and 2025. The final regulations did not extend it. So 2026 already requires good-faith compliance, and in 2027 the plan must follow the regulations as written.
What could still change
Very little, and none of it is about the arithmetic. The September CPI-U arrives on October 14, 2026, and we will confirm the final unrounded values after it posts. The official figures come in the IRS Notice that applies to retirement plan limits, which appears each November. The risks to our numbers are narrow ones. Our two 2026 controls matched the IRS exactly, so we do not expect a surprise in method. A reading of September far outside the 315.09 to 346.83 range would change the Roth threshold, and one outside 317.72 to 359.71 would change the super catch-up. The regular catch-up is the exception, since a September of 335.112 or higher gives $8,500 instead of $8,000. For everything else, the full set of 2027 numbers that depend on a different method is collected in the IRS 2027 inflation adjustments tracker. Anyone also deciding between Roth and traditional contributions for IRAs should read the 2027 Roth IRA and IRA deduction phase-outs projection, since those limits follow the different twelve-month method.
Sources
- 26 U.S.C. § 414 (catch-up contributions, § 414(v)) — law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/414
- IRS Notice 2025-67 (2026 retirement plan limits) — irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-25-67.pdf
- T.D. 10033, Catch-Up Contributions, 90 FR 44527 — govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-09-16/pdf/2025-17865.pdf
- IRS Notice 2023-62 (administrative transition for the Roth catch-up requirement) — irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-23-62.pdf
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U (series CUUR0000SA0) — api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/CUUR0000SA0
Quick answers
What is the Roth catch-up wage threshold for 2027?
Our calculation puts it at $155,000, up from $150,000. The IRS labels the figure by the wage year it measures, so the threshold announced in November 2026 is compared against your 2026 FICA wages from the employer sponsoring the plan, and it decides whether your 2027 catch-up contributions must be Roth. Every plausible September CPI-U reading lands on $155,000, which is why we treat it as already determined even though the official Notice has not been published yet.
Which wages count toward the $155,000 test?
The wages are those subject to Social Security tax, which is the amount in box 3 of your W-2, paid by the employer that sponsors the plan. They are not the Medicare wages in box 5. Pre-tax 401(k) deferrals are still included in box 3 even though they are excluded from box 1. Wages from a prior employer do not count toward the new employer's plan, and someone with no FICA wages from the sponsoring employer in the prior year, such as a self-employed partner or a brand-new hire, is not subject to the rule.
Does the Roth-only rule apply to SEP and SIMPLE IRAs?
No. Section 414(v)(7)(C) carves out SEP and SIMPLE IRA arrangements, and IRS Notice 2025-67 describes the requirement as applying to catch-up contributions to an applicable employer plan other than a plan described in section 408(k) or (p), the SEP and SIMPLE IRA provisions. A 401(k), 403(b) or governmental 457(b) plan is where the rule bites, and only for participants whose prior-year FICA wages from that employer exceed the threshold.
What is the 2027 super catch-up for ages 60 through 63?
We calculate $11,750, up from $11,250 in 2026. It applies to anyone who turns 60, 61, 62 or 63 during the year and replaces the regular catch-up for those ages rather than adding to it. Like the wage threshold, it is fixed by the third-quarter CPI-U average, and every plausible September reading rounds to $11,750. It would fall back to $11,250 only if the September CPI-U dropped to 317.72, and it would reach $12,250 only if it rose to 359.71.
Is the regular catch-up for age 50 and older also settled for 2027?
No, and this is the one number that is still open. The regular catch-up is $8,000 in 2026 and will be either $8,000 or $8,500 in 2027, depending on September. It takes a CPI-U of at least 335.112 to reach $8,500. If September simply matches August, the unrounded figure is $8,498.78, which rounds down to $8,000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the September index on October 14, 2026.
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