Find out exactly how much you can put into a Roth IRA for 2026, even if your income lands inside the phase-out range, then see it grow tax-free. This calculator checks your MAGI eligibility, computes your precise contribution limit, handles a spousal IRA, warns you before an over-contribution, and shows the basis you can always withdraw.
Educational tool, not financial or tax advice. SavingsClub is not a licensed advisor. Estimates only, based on 2026 IRS figures (Notice 2025-67). Investment growth is a projection, not a guarantee. Confirm your situation with a tax professional.
Enter your details and press Calculate. Your eligibility, exact limit, and tax-free growth will appear here.
Most Roth calculators only project growth. The hard part for real savers is figuring out how much you are actually allowed to put in, because once your income climbs into the phase-out band, the maximum shrinks and eventually disappears. This tool starts there. It reads your modified adjusted gross income and filing status, tells you whether you can make a full, reduced, or zero contribution, and calculates the exact reduced dollar amount if you land in the middle. Then it projects the tax-free balance that contribution can build by retirement.
Along the way it catches the two mistakes that cost people money: contributing more than you are allowed, which triggers a yearly penalty, and forgetting that a non-working spouse can have a Roth of their own.
For the 2026 tax year, the most you can contribute across all of your IRAs combined is:
| Who | 2026 limit |
|---|---|
| Under age 50 | $7,500 |
| Age 50 or older | $8,600 (includes a $1,100 catch-up) |
That catch-up amount rose from a flat $1,000 to $1,100 because it is now adjusted for inflation for the first time. Remember this is a shared limit: if you split money between a traditional and a Roth IRA, the two together cannot exceed your limit. You have until April 15, 2027 to make a 2026 contribution.
Whether you can contribute at all depends on your modified adjusted gross income. Cross the lower line and your limit starts shrinking; cross the upper line and direct contributions stop entirely.
| Filing status | Full contribution | Partial (phase-out) | Not allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single / Head of Household | Under $153,000 | $153,000 to $168,000 | $168,000 or more |
| Married Filing Jointly | Under $242,000 | $242,000 to $252,000 | $252,000 or more |
| Married Filing Separately* | - | $0 to $10,000 | $10,000 or more |
*Applies if you lived with your spouse at any time during the year. If you lived apart the entire year, you may be treated as single for this purpose.
Landing in the phase-out range does not mean you are shut out, it means your ceiling is lower. Here is the arithmetic the calculator runs for you:
A common miss for one-income households: a spouse with little or no earned income can still own a Roth IRA. Under the spousal IRA rule, a couple filing jointly can fund a Roth for the non-earning spouse as long as the working spouse earns enough to cover both contributions.
Each spouse gets their own full limit for 2026, $7,500, or $8,600 at age 50 or older, so a couple can potentially set aside up to $15,000, or $17,200 if both are 50 or older. The one ceiling is that your total IRA contributions cannot exceed your joint taxable compensation, and the account has to be opened in the non-working spouse's own name. Tick the spousal box in the calculator to see the household total.
Putting in more than your limit, or contributing at all when your income is too high, creates an excess contribution. The IRS charges a 6% excise tax on the excess for every year it stays in the account, and that clock keeps running until you fix it.
You have three ways to clear it: withdraw the excess plus any earnings it produced before your tax filing deadline, recharacterize it into a traditional IRA, or absorb it into a future year where you have unused room. The sooner you act, the less it costs. The calculator flags an excess the moment your planned amount exceeds what you are allowed.
Because you fund a Roth with money you have already paid tax on, your total contributions, known as your Roth basis, can be withdrawn at any age, at any time, with no tax and no penalty. That makes a Roth quietly flexible: your contributions double as a backup reserve.
Earnings are treated differently. To take out the growth tax-free, you generally need to be at least 59 and a half and have had a Roth open for five years. Pulling contributions early is allowed, but every dollar you remove is a dollar that stops compounding tax-free, so it is a lever to use carefully. If you want a dedicated cushion instead, size one with our Emergency Fund Calculator.
A Roth takes after-tax money now for tax-free withdrawals later; a traditional IRA may give you a deduction now but is taxed on the way out. Roth tends to win when you expect to be in the same or a higher tax bracket in retirement, or when you value the flexibility and the absence of required minimum distributions. To weigh it against a workplace plan, compare with our 401(k) Calculator and Roth 401(k) Calculator.
If your income is above the limit, the backdoor Roth is the common workaround: contribute to a non-deductible traditional IRA, which has no income cap, then convert it to a Roth. It has moving parts (notably the pro-rata rule if you hold other pre-tax IRA money), so it is worth a conversation with a tax professional before you try it.
For 2026 the Roth IRA contribution limit is $7,500 if you are under 50, and $8,600 if you are 50 or older, which includes a $1,100 catch-up. This is the combined limit across all of your traditional and Roth IRAs, not per account. You have until the tax filing deadline of April 15, 2027 to make a 2026 contribution.
Eligibility is based on your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). For 2026 the phase-out range is $153,000 to $168,000 for single and head of household filers, and $242,000 to $252,000 for married filing jointly. Below the lower number you can contribute the full amount, inside the range you get a reduced amount, and above the upper number you cannot contribute directly. Married filing separately who lived with a spouse phase out from $0 to $10,000.
If your MAGI falls inside the phase-out range, subtract the lower threshold from your MAGI, divide by the width of the range ($15,000 for single, $10,000 for joint), and multiply by your contribution limit. Subtract that from the limit to get your reduced maximum, then round up to the nearest $10. If the result is between $0 and $200, you may still contribute $200. This calculator does the math for you.
A spousal Roth IRA lets a married couple filing jointly fund a Roth IRA for a spouse who has little or no earned income, as long as the working spouse earns enough to cover both contributions. Each spouse can contribute up to their own limit ($7,500, or $8,600 if 50 or older) for 2026, but the couple's total IRA contributions cannot exceed their joint taxable compensation. The account is opened in the non-working spouse's name.
An excess contribution is charged a 6% excise tax for every year it stays in the account. You can avoid the penalty by withdrawing the excess plus any earnings on it before your tax filing deadline, by recharacterizing it to a traditional IRA, or by applying it to a future year in which you have room. Fixing it promptly is the cheapest option.
Your contributions, known as your Roth basis, can be withdrawn at any time tax-free and penalty-free, because you already paid tax on that money. Earnings are different: to withdraw earnings tax-free you generally must be at least 59 and a half and have had a Roth IRA open for at least five years. This makes contributions a flexible backup source of cash, though pulling them out costs you future tax-free growth.
This Roth IRA calculator provides estimates for educational purposes using 2026 IRS figures (Notice 2025-67). Growth projections assume a constant annual return and do not account for market volatility, fees, taxes on other accounts, or changes in the law. It is not financial or tax advice. Content is researched and drafted using AI tools with human review before publication. SavingsClub is not a licensed financial or tax advisor. For your specific situation, consult a CPA, enrolled agent, or a fiduciary financial advisor. Read full disclaimer.