IRA Calculator

How it works

The IRA limit for the year is the same for traditional and Roth IRAs combined: a base amount plus a catch-up once you are 50 by the end of the year, and never more than your taxable compensation.

A Roth IRA contribution shrinks as modified AGI rises through a phase-out range set for your filing status, and is not allowed at all above it. Inside the range the limit falls in proportion to how far through the range your income is, is rounded up to the next $10, and is never below $200.

Anyone with compensation can contribute to a traditional IRA, but the deduction phases out the same way when you are covered by a workplace retirement plan, or when you are married, not covered, and your spouse is. If neither applies, the whole contribution is deductible. The part that is not deductible can still be contributed as a nondeductible (after-tax) contribution.

The projection then assumes you contribute the allowed amount every year until retirement, recalculating the catch-up as you pass 50, and grows the balance at the return you entered.

Formula

limit     = base IRA limit + catch-up (age 50+)
base      = min(limit, compensation)
fraction  = (end − MAGI) ÷ (end − start)          start < MAGI < end
reduced   = max(⌈base × fraction ÷ 10⌉ × 10, 200)  (Roth; traditional uses limit)
Roth allowed       = min(reduced, base)
traditional deduct = min(reduced, base)            if a phase-out applies
balance_(k+1) = balance_k × (1 + return) + contribution_k

Example

A single 45-year-old with $160,000 of modified AGI and compensation in 2026 is 7/15 of the way through the $153,000–$168,000 Roth phase-out. The $7,500 limit becomes $7,500 × 8,000 ÷ 15,000 = $4,000, so they can contribute $4,000 to a Roth IRA.

From 50 the $1,100 catch-up raises the limit to $8,600, which the same phase-out scales to $4,586.67, rounded up to $4,590. Contributing the allowed amount at the end of every year from 45 through 64 (five years of $4,000, then fifteen of $4,590) at a 6% return, starting from nothing, grows to $160,875.19: $88,850 of contributions and $72,025.19 of growth.

Assumptions and limitations

• Limits and phase-out ranges are from IRS Notice 2025-67 for 2026 and Notice 2024-80 for 2025; choose the tax year above. The worksheets followed are Publication 590-A Worksheet 1-2 (traditional deduction) and Worksheet 2-2 (Roth).
• The reduced limit is rounded up to the next $10 and is at least $200, as IRC §219(g)(2) requires. Publication 590-A (2025) Worksheet 1-2 Example 1 prints $6,825 without applying its own rounding; the statute gives $6,830.
• The projection holds this tax year's limits, your income and compensation constant and applies a constant return. Real limits rise with inflation and returns vary.
• Contributions to other IRAs in the same year reduce the amount allowed here; this calculator assumes none.
• Married filing separately uses the $0–$10,000 range. If you lived apart from your spouse all year, the IRS treats you as single for these rules: choose Single.
• For a spousal IRA, enter the couple's combined compensation less the other spouse's own IRA contributions (Publication 590-A).
• Taxes owed on withdrawals and the five-year and age 59½ rules are not modelled.
• This is an estimate for planning. It is informational and educational and is not financial, tax or legal advice.

Frequently asked questions