US. IRS Announces Higher 2019 Retirement Plan Contribution Limits For 401(k)s And More

Get ready to save more for retirement in 2019! The Treasury Department has announced inflation-adjusted figures for retirement account savings for 2019, and there are a lot of changes that will help savers stuff these accounts.

After six years stuck at $5,500, the amount you can contribute to an Individual Retirement Account is being bumped up to $6,000 for 2019. The amount you can contribute to your 401(k) or similar workplace retirement plan goes up from $18,500 in 2018 to $19,000 in 2019. Catch-up contribution limits if you’re 50 or older in 2019 remain unchanged at $6,000 for workplace plans and $1,000 for IRAs.

That means that many high earners and super-savers age 50-plus can sock away $32,000 in these tax-advantaged accounts. If your employer allows aftertax contributions or you’re self-employed, you can save even more. The overall defined contribution plan limit moves up to $56,000, from $55,000.

Do these limits seem unreachable? During 2017, 13% of employees with retirement plans at work saved the then-statutory maximum of $18,000/$24,000, according to Vanguard’s How America Saves. In plans offering catch-up contributions,14% of those age 50 or older took advantage of the extra savings opportunity.

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