Yes, you can keep contributing to a 401(k) after age 65. Federal law sets no upper age limit, so as long as you are still employed by the company that sponsors the plan and receiving compensation from it, your elective deferrals and any employer match continue on the same terms as everyone else’s.1Internal Revenue Service. Publication 560 (2025), Retirement Plans for Small Business The complications at this stage of life are not about eligibility. They are about how much you can put in, when required minimum distributions start pulling money back out, and how your contribution choices ripple into Medicare premiums two years later.
No Age Cap While You’re Still Employed
A 401(k) plan cannot exclude you because of your age. What it can require is that you be an active employee earning wages, salary, bonuses, commissions, tips, or taxable fringe benefits from the sponsoring employer.2Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Plan Fix-It Guide – Compensation Definition Once you leave the job, deferrals stop because there is no payroll to draw them from.
Employer matching contributions follow the same logic. If you are 67 and still deferring a portion of each paycheck, the match keeps landing in your account on whatever schedule the plan document specifies. Scaling back your own contributions late in your career often means walking away from that match, which is worth remembering before you dial down.
How Much You Can Contribute in 2026
The standard elective deferral limit for 2026 is $24,500, covering your combined traditional and Roth 401(k) deferrals.3Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
Because you are 50 or older, you also get a catch-up. For 2026 the standard catch-up is $8,000, which brings the employee ceiling to $32,500.4Internal Revenue Service. COLA Increases for Dollar Limitations on Benefits and Contributions
There is one more tier worth knowing about even if you have aged past it. Under SECURE 2.0, employees who turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 during the tax year get an enhanced catch-up of $11,250 in 2026, letting them defer up to $35,750 of their own pay.3Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500 At 64 and beyond you revert to the $8,000 catch-up. If a spouse or coworker is inside that window, they have a short-term opportunity to shelter more income than you can at 65.
Employer contributions sit on top of what you defer. The overall annual addition limit for 2026 is $72,000, and catch-up contributions are added above that ceiling. That puts the real combined maximum at $80,000 for someone 65 with the standard catch-up, or $83,250 for a worker in the 60-to-63 enhanced window.4Internal Revenue Service. COLA Increases for Dollar Limitations on Benefits and Contributions
The Coming Roth Catch-Up Rule for Higher Earners
For tax years beginning after December 31, 2026, employees who earned more than $145,000 from the plan sponsor in the prior year must make their catch-up contributions on a Roth (after-tax) basis. If your employer’s plan does not offer a Roth option, higher-income workers in that group will lose the ability to make catch-up contributions at all.5Internal Revenue Service. Treasury, IRS Issue Final Regulations on New Roth Catch-Up Rule, Other SECURE 2.0 Act Provisions The rule is not in effect for 2026 itself, but if you are a high earner planning to keep making catch-ups, confirm that a Roth 401(k) option is on the menu now.
Required Minimum Distributions Can Still Apply
Being able to contribute does not mean the IRS lets your account sit undisturbed. Required minimum distributions force money out of tax-deferred accounts eventually. The starting age depends on when you were born:
- Born 1951 through 1959: RMDs begin at age 73.
- Born 1960 or later: RMDs begin at age 75.
These ages apply to both IRAs and employer plans.6Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs
The Still-Working Exception
If you are still employed by the company that sponsors your 401(k), you can delay RMDs from that specific plan until April 1 of the year after you retire.7Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) That is a real benefit: the account keeps compounding on a tax-deferred basis for as long as you stay on the payroll.
Two catches. First, the plan document has to allow the delay. Some plans require distributions at the standard RMD age regardless of whether you are still working. Ask your plan administrator before you assume.7Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) Second, the exception is narrow. It does not extend to traditional IRAs or to 401(k) accounts sitting at former employers. Those must begin RMDs on the normal schedule even if you are still drawing a paycheck elsewhere. And unlike IRAs, where you can aggregate RMDs across accounts, each 401(k) plan’s RMD must be calculated and taken from that specific plan.8Internal Revenue Service. RMD Comparison Chart (IRAs vs. Defined Contribution Plans)
The 5% Owner Rule
If you own more than 5% of the business sponsoring the plan, the still-working exception does not apply. You must begin RMDs at the standard age even while actively employed.6Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs Ownership is not just what is in your own name. Federal attribution rules pull in stock held by your spouse, parents, children, and grandparents. In a family business, a personal stake of 2% can cross the threshold once a spouse’s 4% is counted.
Penalty for Missing an Rmd
Skipping a required distribution triggers a 25% excise tax on the shortfall, dropping to 10% if you correct the mistake within two years.6Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs The most common way this happens: someone correctly delays RMDs from their current 401(k) under the still-working exception and forgets about an old 401(k) at a previous employer that had to start distributing on schedule.
How Contributing Affects Medicare and Social Security
The decision to keep deferring at 65 has consequences beyond the account itself. Two of them matter.
Medicare Irmaa Surcharges
Medicare Part B and Part D premiums carry a surcharge for higher-income beneficiaries called IRMAA, based on your modified adjusted gross income from two years earlier. For 2026, the surcharges start when MAGI exceeds $109,000 on an individual return or $218,000 on a joint return.9Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles
This is where pre-tax 401(k) contributions earn their keep. Every dollar you defer into a traditional 401(k) reduces adjusted gross income and can keep you under an IRMAA threshold or move you into a lower surcharge bracket. If you are close to a cutoff, maxing out pre-tax deferrals now can lower Medicare premiums two years out. Roth 401(k) contributions do not help here because they are made with after-tax dollars and do not reduce AGI.
The Social Security Earnings Test
If you are collecting Social Security before your full retirement age, wages above a threshold temporarily reduce your benefit. For 2026, Social Security withholds $1 for every $2 you earn above $24,480; in the calendar year you reach full retirement age, the threshold rises to $65,160 with $1 withheld for every $3 above. Once you hit full retirement age, the earnings test disappears.10Social Security Administration. Exempt Amounts Under the Earnings Test
One point catches people out: pre-tax 401(k) contributions do not reduce your earnings for this test. Social Security counts gross wages, and deferrals are included in that number. The reduction is also temporary; Social Security recalculates your benefit upward at full retirement age to account for months of withheld payments.
When You Finally Stop Working
The still-working exception ends the day you separate from service. Your first RMD from that plan is due by April 1 of the year after the year you retire, and every RMD after that is due by December 31.7Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) If you use that first-year April 1 grace period, you end up taking two RMDs in the same calendar year: one for the year you retired and one for the current year. That can push you into a higher tax bracket and, two years later, into a higher IRMAA bracket. Many people take the first RMD in the retirement year itself rather than defer it, precisely to avoid the double hit.