Did you max out your 2025 IRA contribution limit? If not, plan carefully to get the most out of your retirement accounts. You still have until April 15 of 2026, to make a contribution to your Roth and traditional IRAs for 2025. Read on for contribution limits.
IRAs have become an even more valuable tool for retirement savings after employers began moving away from traditional pensions. As companies shifted to defined contribution plans like 401(k)s, workers needed new ways to save for their future, increasing the importance of IRAs.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) created the IRA account, and by 1975, workers who had no access to employer-sponsored retirement plans could contribute up to $1,500. Over the years, the number of people eligible to contribute has grown, as well as the types of IRAs people can choose from.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
By mid-2023, 55.5 million (or 42.2%) U.S. households reported that they owned individual retirement accounts (IRAs), according to a 2023 ICI report on The Role of IRAs in US Households’ Saving for Retirement. IRA accounts held $14.5 trillion at the end of June, roughly one-third of total retirement assets of $40 trillion.
The tables below can give you the contribution limits, income limits and rollover rules for IRAs: Roth, traditional, SIMPLE and SEP at a glance. There are also links to articles that flesh out the rules in greater detail and often provide planning advice.
If you are wondering what the 2026 contribution limits are, you'll have to wait a little longer. The official 2026 contribution limits are typically announced by the IRS in late October or early November of the year prior. These tables will be updated with new limits when they are released.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | 2025 Age 50 and older |
|---|---|
$8,000 | |
$8,000 | |
n/a |
| Header Cell - Column 0 | 2025 |
|---|---|
$7,000 | |
$7,000 | |
25% of your total compensation, up to $70,000 |
Filing status | 2025 Modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) | Contribution limit |
| Row 1 - Cell 0 | For 2025: | For 2025: |
Single | less than $150,000 | Full contribution-$7,000 |
| Row 3 - Cell 0 | more than $150,000 but less than $165,000 | Partial contribution |
| Row 4 - Cell 0 | more than $165,000 | Not eligible |
| Row 5 - Cell 0 | For 2025: | For 2025: |
Married (filing joint returns) | < $236,000 | Full contribution-$7,000 |
| Row 7 - Cell 0 | more than $236,000 but less than $246,000 | Partial contribution |
| Row 8 - Cell 0 | more than $246,000 | Not eligible |
| Row 9 - Cell 0 | For 2025: | For 2025: |
Married (filing separately) | less than $10,000 | Partial contribution |
| Row 11 - Cell 0 | more than $10,000 | Not eligible |
Consider the backdoor Roth option if your income exceeds the limit.
If you earn too much to contribute to a Roth IRA — all may not be lost. You can still access these accounts indirectly through a backdoor Roth IRA.
Creating a backdoor Roth IRA is a two-step process. First, you open a traditional IRA using after-tax dollars instead of the pre-tax money you usually fund these accounts with. Then, you convert the traditional IRA to a Roth, but because none of the contributions were deductible, no income tax is owed on the conversion.
While there are no income limits for setting up a nondeductible IRA or making a Roth conversion, contributions through the back door have the same annual limit in 2025. For more information, Backdoor Roth IRAs: Good for Wealthy Retirees? and get up-to-speed on the pro-rata rule and how to manage withdrawals.
Filing status | Modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) | Deduction limit |
| Row 1 - Cell 0 | Row 1 - Cell 2 | |
Single | less than $79,000 | Full deduction up to the amount of your contribution limit |
| Row 3 - Cell 0 | more than $79,000 but less than $89,000 | Partial deduction |
| Row 4 - Cell 0 | more than $89,000 | No deduction |
| Row 5 - Cell 0 | For 2025 | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
Married (filing joint returns) | less than $126,000 | Full deduction up to the amount of your contribution limit |
| Row 7 - Cell 0 | more than $126,000 but less than $146,000 | Partial deduction |
| Row 8 - Cell 0 | more than $146,000 | No deduction |
| Row 9 - Cell 0 | For 2025 | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
Married (filing separately) | less than $10,000 | Partial deduction |
| Row 11 - Cell 0 | more than $10,000 | No deduction |
Filing Status | 2025 Modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) | Deduction limit |
| Row 1 - Cell 0 | Row 1 - Cell 2 | |
Single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er) | Any amount | Full deduction up to the amount of your contribution limit |
| Row 3 - Cell 0 | Row 3 - Cell 1 | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
Married filing jointly with a spouse who is not covered by a plan at work | Any amount | Full deduction up to the amount of your contribution limit |
| Row 5 - Cell 0 | Row 5 - Cell 1 | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
Married filing jointly with a spouse who is covered by a plan at work | less than $236,000 | Full deduction up to the amount of your contribution limit |
| Row 7 - Cell 0 | more than $236,000 but less than $246,000 | Partial deduction |
| Row 8 - Cell 0 | more than $246,000 | No deduction |
| Row 9 - Cell 0 | Row 9 - Cell 1 | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
Married filing separately with a spouse who is covered by a plan at work | less than $10,000 | Partial deduction |
| Row 11 - Cell 0 | more than $10,000 | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
A non-deductible IRA
A non-deductible IRA isn’t a type of retirement account; it refers to nondeductible contributions that you make to a traditional IRA. It’s a retirement savings strategy for those whose income exceeds the limits to make deductible IRA contributions or to contribute to a Roth IRA. You will need to file a Form 8606 for every year you made nondeductible IRA contributions
But be aware that making nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA will complicate your life when it comes time to withdraw funds from your IRA. Why? Because each withdrawal from that traditional IRA will be a combination of your nondeductible contributions, your tax-deductible contributions and all their earnings. And as you take distributions, the ratio will change. How to Calculate Tax-Free and Taxable IRA Withdrawals can give you a clearer picture of how the process works.
SEP Plan criteria for eligible employees and contribution limits
Requirement for equal contributions. SEP plans provide some flexibility to employer owners when cash flow is tight. There's no requirement or obligation for the business owner to make contributions each year, but when they do the percentage of income contributed to a SEP IRA must be the same across all eligible employees, including the owner.
Eligibility to contribute to a SEP IRA. Unlike other retirement plans, there are specific criteria for being eligible to have a SEP IRA as an employee.
You must:
- Be age 21 or older
- Meet the 3-of-5 rule, meaning you've been employed full time by the company for any period of time during at least 3 of the last 5 year
- Earn the minimum annual compensation from the SEP IRA-sponsoring employer. For that is $750 for 2025.
A company may exclude the following from its SEP IRA:
- Employees that are covered by a union collective bargaining agreement for retirement benefits
- Employees who are not U.S. residents and do not receive US wages.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | 2025 |
|---|---|
$16,500 | |
SIMPLE employee age 50+ catch up | n/a |
SIMPLE employee age 50-59 and 64+ catchup | $3,500 |
SIMPLE employee age 60-63 catch-up | $5,250 |
For employers with 25 or fewer employees: | Row 4 - Cell 1 |
SIMPLE employee deferral (additional 10%) | $17,600 |
SIMPLE employee age 50+ catch-up (additional 10%) | n/a |
SIMPLE employee age 50-59 and 64+ catchup (additional 10%) | $3,850 |
| Row 8 - Cell 0 | Row 8 - Cell 1 |
SIMPLE Employer (Mandatory) Contribution Limits
SIMPLE IRAs operate differently than other IRAs. And it's important to note that employees cannot make SIMPLE IRA contributions on their own behalf. SEP IRA contributions are made by the employer/business owner rather than by individuals/employees, and contribution amounts are determined by the business, subject to IRS limits.
Another unique feature of a SIMPLE IRA plan is that the percentage of income contributed by an employer/owner to a SIMPLE IRA must be the same for all eligible employees, including the owner. For the 2025 tax year, the deadline to contribute to a SIMPLE IRA is April 15, 2026, or the business's tax filing deadline, including extensions up to October 15.
An employer must contribute to a plan and can choose either of the following SIMPLE IRA employer match rules:
- Make a non-elective contribution of at least 2 percent of compensation for all eligible employees. You may limit these non-elective contributions to eligible employees earning at least $5,000, although you do not have to do so. Maximum compensation is $350,000 for the 2025 tax year
- Make a matching contribution of 100 percent up to the first 3 percent of compensation. Employees only get this matching contribution if they contribute to the plan
- Allow additional nonelective contributions to SIMPLE IRA plans. Section 116 of the SECURE Act 2.0 allows employers to make additional contributions to their employees “in a uniform manner,” as long as the contribution does not exceed either up to 10 percent of compensation or $5,000, whichever is less.
SIMPLE IRA deadlines
SIMPLE IRAs have set-up deadlines and contribution deadlines.
Setup deadline: A plan cannot have an effective date later than Oct. 1 for current-year contributions.
Contribution deadline: Employers must make contributions by the business's tax-filing deadline. They must deposit salary deferral contributions from employees no later than 30 business days after the end of the month they were deferred.
Employers are required to make annual contributions to a SIMPLE IRA plan. At minimum, an employer must either match employee contributions, up to 3% of compensation (and no less than 1%), or contribute up to 2% of compensation for all eligible employees, regardless of whether the employee contributes.
Roll From: | Roll To: Roth IRA | Traditional IRA | SIMPLE IRA | A SEP-IRA | Designated Roth Account (401(k), 403(b) or 457(b) | 403(b) (pre-tax) | Qualified Plan (pre-tax) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roth IRA | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Yes | Yes | Yes , after two years | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | |
SIMPLE IRA | Yes, after two years | Yes, after two years | Yes | Yes, after two years | No | Yes, after two years | Yes, after two years |
A SEP-IRA | Yes | Yes | Yes, after two years | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Here are some important rules and limitations about rollovers:
Number of rollovers: the once-per-year rollover rule. You can only make one 60-day indirect rollover, where you receive a check from an IRA and deposit it into another IRA within 60 days, from all of your IRAs (including Traditional, Roth, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs) within a 12-month period.
Three exceptions to the once-per-year rollover rule. This rule doesn't apply to: (1) trustee-to-trustee transfers — direct transfers of funds between IRA custodians, (2) rollovers to/from qualified plan — rollovers from or to 401(k)s, 403(b)s, etc. and (3) Roth conversions — converting a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.
Rollovers from pre-tax accounts to a Roth IRA. If you rollover funds from a traditional, SIMPLE or SEP IRA to a Roth IRA, you will have to include the rollover amount on your tax return and pay income taxes.
Limitations on rollover to SIMPLE IRAs. Rollovers into a SIMPLE IRA from traditional and SEP IRAs, as well as employer-sponsored retirement plans, applies only to contributions made after December 18, 2015. Contributions made prior to that date are ineligible to rollover into a SIMPLE IRA.
Related Content
-
Time Is Running Out to Make the Best Tax Moves for 2025Don't wait until January — investors, including those with a high net worth, can snag big tax savings for 2025 (and 2026) with these strategies.
-
4 Smart Ways Retirees Can Give More to CharityFor retirees, tax efficiency and charitable giving should go hand in hand. After all, why not maximize your gifts and minimize the amount that goes to the IRS?
-
If You Do One Boring Task Before Year-End, Make It This OneWho wants to check insurance policies when there's fun to be had? Still, making sure everything is up to date (coverage and deductibles) can save you a ton.
-
Time Is Running Out to Make the Best Moves to Save on Your 2025 Taxes
Don't wait until January — investors, including those with a high net worth, can snag big tax savings for 2025 (and 2026) with these strategies.
-
4 Smart Ways Retirees Can Give More to Charity, From a Financial Adviser
For retirees, tax efficiency and charitable giving should go hand in hand. After all, why not maximize your gifts and minimize the amount that goes to the IRS?
-
My Adult Child Was Laid Off. Can We Discuss It Without Ruining the Holidays?We asked mental health and financial experts for advice.
-
3 Year-End Tax Strategies for Retirees With $2 Million to $10 MillionTo avoid the OBBB messing up your whole tax strategy, get your Roth conversions and charitable bunching done by year's end.
-
'Politics' Is a Dirty Word for Some Financial Advisers: 3 Reasons This Financial Planner Vehemently DisagreesYour financial plan should be aligned with your values and your politics. If your adviser refuses to talk about them, it's time to go elsewhere.
-
For a Move Abroad, Choosing a Fiduciary Financial Planner Who Sees Both Sides of the Border Is CriticalWorking with a cross-border financial planner is essential to integrate tax, estate and visa considerations and avoid costly, unexpected liabilities.
-
15 Costly Drugs Will Get Medicare Price Cuts in 2027: Will You Save?The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services extended a safety net to older Americans by announcing significant price reductions on 15 high-cost prescription drugs, effective in 2027.
-
Average Retirement Income by Age and StateWhether you are already retired or just beginning to save, these age and state income averages offer a critical reality check to retirement savings and spending plans.
