Roth IRA Calculator With 2026 Limits & Income Phase-Out

Why a Roth IRA is worth maxing

A Roth IRA flips the usual tax deal. You contribute money you've already paid tax on, and in return every dollar of growth comes out tax-free in retirement, as long as you're 59½ or older and the account has been open at least five years. No required minimum distributions during your lifetime, either. For anyone who expects to be in the same or a higher tax bracket later, or who just wants a pile of money the IRS can't touch, it's the best account most people have access to.

2026 contribution limits

For tax year 2026 the IRS limit is $7,500, up from $7,000 in 2025. If you're 50 or older by December 31, add a $1,100 catch-up, for $8,600 total. SECURE 2.0 now indexes that catch-up to inflation. The limit is shared across all your IRAs, Roth and traditional combined, and you can't contribute more than your taxable compensation for the year. You have until the tax filing deadline, April 15, 2027, to make 2026 contributions.

Income limits apply to Roth IRAs. For 2026 your allowed contribution phases out with modified adjusted gross income between $153,000 and $168,000 for single and head-of-household filers, and between $242,000 and $252,000 for married couples filing jointly. If you're married filing separately and lived with your spouse, the range is $0 to $10,000, which rules out almost everyone.

How the phase-out is calculated

The IRS formula from Publication 590-A: reduced limit = full limit − full limit × (MAGI − start of range) ÷ width of range, rounded up to the next $10. If the result is above zero but under $200, you can still contribute $200.

Example: single, age 35, MAGI $160,000. You're $7,000 into a $15,000 range, so the reduction is $7,500 × 7/15 = $3,500 and your limit is $4,000. Married, age 55, MAGI $245,000: $8,600 × 3/10 = $2,580 reduction, so $6,020. The calculator does this automatically and caps your projection at the allowed amount.

The growth formula and a worked example

Each year: balance = previous balance × (1 + return) + contribution. The calculator assumes one contribution at the end of each year at today's limit, which understates the result slightly, since real limits rise with inflation.

Start at 30, contribute $7,500 a year until 65, and earn 7% a year. You put in $262,500 and end with $1,036,777. The $774,277 of growth is tax-free. If that growth were taxed at 22% on the way out, as it largely would be in a traditional IRA or 401(k), you'd owe about $170,341.

Starting early matters more than contributing a lot. Contribute $7,500 a year from 30 to 40 and then stop, and at 7% you'd have about $562,409 at 65. Wait until 40 and contribute every year for 25 years, and you'd have about $474,368, despite putting in two and a half times as much.

Roth vs traditional IRA

A traditional IRA may give you a deduction now and taxes withdrawals later. A Roth gives no deduction now and no tax later. If your tax rate in retirement will be lower than today, traditional can win; if it's the same or higher, Roth wins. Early-career workers in the 10% or 12% bracket should almost always choose Roth. High earners near retirement often do better with pretax savings. Many people split the difference and hold both for tax flexibility.

Over the income limit? The backdoor Roth

If your MAGI is above the phase-out, you can contribute to a nondeductible traditional IRA and convert it to a Roth. There's no income limit on conversions. Watch the pro-rata rule: if you have other pretax IRA money, part of the conversion becomes taxable. File Form 8606 every year you do this.

Mistakes to avoid

Leaving contributions in cash. Money deposited into a Roth IRA often sits in a money market fund until you choose an investment. Pick one.

Over-contributing. Excess contributions face a 6% penalty every year until corrected. If your income unexpectedly lands in the phase-out, withdraw the excess and its earnings before your filing deadline.

Thinking the money is locked up. You can withdraw your contributions (not earnings) any time, tax- and penalty-free. That makes a Roth a reasonable backstop, though raiding it costs you decades of tax-free growth.