Calculate Your 2026 SIMPLE IRA
Enter your salary, age, and elective deferral. The calculator applies the 2026 IRS Notice 2025-67 limits, the SECURE 2.0 §117 enhancement (for ≤25-employee employers), and both standard and age-60-63 super catch-ups.
Results
How this SIMPLE IRA calculator works
A SIMPLE IRA (Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees) is authorized by IRC §408(p) and is the standard low-administrative-cost retirement plan for small employers with 100 or fewer employees. Two moving parts: your elective deferral (bounded by the 2026 IRS limit) and your employer's mandatory contribution (either 3% dollar-for-dollar match or 2% flat nonelective).
The 2026 limits, straight from IRS Notice 2025-67
- Base elective deferral: $17,000/yr (up from $16,500 in 2025).
- SECURE 2.0 §117 enhanced deferral: $18,100/yr — available if the employer has ≤25 employees, or 26–100 employees who elect a 4% matching / 3% nonelective in place of the standard formula.
- Age-50 catch-up: $4,000 (standard) / $4,850 (§117 enhanced).
- Age-60-63 super catch-up (SECURE 2.0 §109): $5,250 — replaces (does not stack with) the age-50 catch-up.
- §401(a)(17) compensation cap (applies to 2% nonelective only): $360,000 for 2026.
Employer contribution branch
Under IRC §408(p)(2), the employer must pick ONE of these two formulas each plan year and stick with it:
- 3% dollar-for-dollar match: matches up to 3% of your compensation, but only if you defer. If you defer 0%, you get 0. This calc caps the match at min(your deferral, 3% × salary).
- 2% nonelective: employer contributes 2% of every eligible employee's compensation whether or not the employee defers. Compensation is capped by §401(a)(17) at $360,000 for 2026.
The employer may temporarily reduce the 3% match to as low as 1% in no more than 2 of any rolling 5-year window under §408(p)(2)(C)(ii)(II) — that reduction is not modeled here; enter your effective match rate in salary if it differs.
Related reading and calculators
- SIMPLE IRA vs SEP-IRA vs Solo 401(k) in 2026: the small-business retirement trio explained — the deep-dive blog piece this calculator was built to pair with.
- Backdoor Roth IRA in 2026 — the pro-rata trap defusing playbook (SIMPLE balances count as "pre-tax IRA" under IRC §408(d)(2) for backdoor Roth aggregation).
- SEP-IRA calculator · Solo 401(k) / 401(k) calculator · Self-employment tax calculator · General retirement calculator
- All CalcLeap calculators · About CalcLeap Editorial
Primary sources
- IRS Notice 2025-67 (2026 pension plan COLA adjustments, October 2025).
- IRS News Release IR-2025-176 (2026 retirement contribution limits).
- IRC §408(p) (SIMPLE IRA plan authorization + employer contribution formulas).
- SECURE 2.0 Act, Pub. L. 117-328, §109 (age 60-63 super catch-up), §116 (SIMPLE nonelective enhancement), §117 (enhanced SIMPLE elective deferral limit).
- IRC §401(a)(17) compensation cap; §72(t)(6) SIMPLE 2-year withdrawal 25% additional tax.