Retirement Contribution Limits and What They Mean

Five different account types each have their own contribution rules, and none of them work the way you’d assume from the others — a 401(k) limit has nothing to do with income, a Roth IRA disappears entirely above a certain income, and a Traditional IRA is never capped by income at all, only its tax deduction is. This guide walks through how all five actually fit together for one person in one tax year.

Your 401(k): A Fixed Limit, No Income Phase-Out

The 401(k) Contribution Calculator finds your per-paycheck deduction and total contribution (employee plus employer match) from your salary and contribution percentage, and flags whether your desired rate would exceed the IRS’s annual limit. Unlike a Roth IRA, this limit never phases out based on income — a high earner and a modest earner face the exact same dollar cap on employee contributions.

Practical takeaway: your 401(k) contribution capacity is completely independent of your income level, which makes it the first, most straightforward piece of the puzzle — no eligibility check needed, just the dollar limit itself.

Your Roth IRA: Eligibility That Phases Out With Income

The Roth IRA Contribution Limit Calculator finds how much you’re actually allowed to contribute to a Roth IRA this year based on your Modified AGI and filing status — the full limit, a reduced amount inside a phase-out range, or nothing at all above it. This is a genuinely different question from a 401(k)‘s fixed limit: Roth IRA eligibility itself shrinks and eventually disappears as income rises.

Practical takeaway: don’t assume Roth IRA eligibility just because you’re eligible for a 401(k) — they’re governed by completely different rules, and a raise or bonus that pushes your income into or through the phase-out range can silently reduce or eliminate your Roth IRA room for that year.

Your Traditional IRA: Never Capped, But Sometimes Not Deductible

The IRA Contribution Calculator finds how much of a Traditional IRA contribution is actually tax-deductible this year, based on your Modified AGI, filing status, and whether you or your spouse are covered by a workplace retirement plan. Unlike the Roth IRA, a Traditional IRA contribution itself is never capped by income — what changes with income is only whether it earns you a tax deduction.

Practical takeaway: if your income phases you out of the Roth IRA deduction above, that doesn’t mean you can’t contribute to an IRA at all — a Traditional IRA is still available, though its deduction may be partially or fully phased out too if you’re covered by a workplace plan like a 401(k).

Your HSA: A Separate Pool Tied to Health Coverage, Not Income

The HSA Contribution Calculator finds your remaining contribution room this year based on your health plan’s coverage type and what’s already been contributed by you and your employer. This limit has nothing to do with income or with any of the retirement account rules above — it’s driven entirely by your health coverage type, and unused room simply rolls over rather than expiring.

Practical takeaway: an HSA’s contribution room is a completely separate bucket from your 401(k) and IRA limits — maxing one doesn’t reduce your room in the others, and an HSA is worth checking independently even while you’re focused on retirement accounts specifically.

The Backdoor Roth: A Workaround, With Its Own Rule to Watch

If your income phases you out of direct Roth IRA contributions above, the Backdoor Roth Calculator models the common workaround: contributing (non-deductible) to a Traditional IRA and immediately converting it to a Roth. The catch is the IRS pro-rata rule — if you hold any OTHER pre-tax Traditional/SEP/SIMPLE IRA money anywhere, part of that conversion becomes taxable, which this calculator finds exactly.

Practical takeaway: the backdoor Roth is only clean (no unexpected tax bill) if you have zero other pre-tax IRA balances — check this specifically before assuming the workaround costs you nothing extra.

Putting It Together

A practical sequence for one tax year: confirm your 401(k) Contribution Calculator room first, since it’s unaffected by income; check Roth IRA Contribution Limit Calculator to see whether you’re fully, partially, or not eligible for a Roth IRA; if you’re phased out, check whether the

Backdoor Roth Calculator workaround is genuinely tax-clean for your situation; separately check IRA Contribution Calculator if a Traditional IRA’s deduction matters to you; and check HSA Contribution Calculator independently, since it’s driven by health coverage, not income or any of the other four accounts.