Retirement planning
Roth or traditional, and what will I actually live on?
Retirement money has four separate questions attached to it: how much you are allowed to put in, whether the tax break is better now or later, what Social Security will actually pay depending on when you claim, and what the government will force you to take out — plus what all of that does to your Medicare premium.
Reviewed 27-07-2026 IRS Notice 2025-67 · SSA COLA · CMS 2026 premiums 11 calculators inside
Your situation
My situation is different
Contributing, choosing an account type, claiming Social Security and drawing down are four different decisions with different rules. Pick where you are.
That's not my case
Fine-tune the estimate
Your situation
Statutory limits come from the maintained US table in this repo, not from this form. What you enter is your own situation.
From your Social Security statement at ssa.gov. It is the average of your 35 highest indexed earning years, per month.
Quoted by the insurer. This is not a return — it includes your own capital being returned to you.
Educational tool, not investment advice or a recommendation. Returns and capital can fluctuate or be lost; verify costs and risks with an authorized provider or adviser.
How the total adds up
The numbers behind the decision
All amounts are in US dollars unless the row says otherwise.
Depending on the case you picked, this compares the contribution buckets, the two account types after tax, the benefit at each claiming age, or the Medicare cost by bracket. The tallest bar is not always the right answer — read the warnings with it.
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What applies to you
What's included
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Frequently asked questions
How much can I contribute to a 401(k) this year?
The elective deferral limit is $24,500 under age 50, with an $8,000 catch-up from 50. SECURE 2.0 adds an enhanced catch-up of $11,250 for ages 60 through 63, which replaces the standard one rather than stacking on it. The combined employee-plus-employer cap is $72,000. These come from IRS Notice 2025-67 and change every year.
Do the 401(k) and IRA limits share a cap?
No. They are entirely separate buckets. You can max a 401(k) at $24,500 and still contribute $7,500 to an IRA, with its own separate $1,100 catch-up at 50. What income does affect is whether a traditional IRA contribution is deductible and whether you can contribute to a Roth IRA at all.
How much can I put in an HSA?
$4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage, plus a $1,000 catch-up from age 55. You need a qualifying high-deductible health plan. The HSA is the only account with three tax advantages — deductible going in, growing untaxed, and tax-free coming out for medical expenses.
Is a Roth or a traditional account better?
It comes down to one comparison: your tax rate now against your tax rate when you withdraw. If your rate falls in retirement, traditional wins; if it rises, Roth wins; at the same rate the two are mathematically identical. This hub shows the break-even retirement rate at which they tie.
How is my Social Security benefit calculated?
From your average indexed monthly earnings across your 35 highest years. The formula pays 90% of the first $1,286, 32% of the amount between $1,286 and $7,749, and 15% of anything above that. The result is your primary insurance amount — the benefit at full retirement age, which is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.
Should I claim Social Security at 62 or wait until 70?
Claiming at 62 permanently cuts the benefit by about 30% against full retirement age; delaying to 70 raises it by about 24% through delayed retirement credits of 8% a year. The break-even against claiming early usually lands around age 78 to 80. Delaying is essentially longevity insurance, and it also raises a surviving spouse’s benefit.
What is the Social Security earnings test?
If you claim before full retirement age and keep working, $1 of benefit is withheld for every $2 earned above $24,480 a year. In the year you reach full retirement age the limit rises to $65,160 and the withholding drops to $1 for every $3. Critically, the withheld money is not lost — your benefit is recalculated upward once you reach full retirement age.
When do required minimum distributions start?
Under SECURE 2.0, at 73 if you were born between 1951 and 1959, and at 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. The amount is the prior year-end balance divided by the life-expectancy factor for your age from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. At 75 that factor is 24.6, which is about 4.1% of the balance.
What happens if I miss an RMD?
The excise tax is 25% of the amount you should have taken, reduced to 10% if you correct it within the applicable window and file Form 5329. It is the single most expensive routine deadline in the tax code, and it is easy to miss in the first year because that one can be deferred to the following April.
What is IRMAA and how do I avoid it?
It is the income-related surcharge on Medicare Part B and Part D. The standard 2026 Part B premium is $202.90 a month, rising through five brackets to $689.90 for the highest earners, with a Part D surcharge on top. It is a cliff, not a taper — one dollar over a threshold costs you the whole step — and it is based on your income from two years earlier.
Can I appeal an IRMAA determination?
Yes, if you had a life-changing event: retirement or reduced work hours, marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, loss of a pension, or loss of income-producing property. File Form SSA-44 with documentation as soon as it happens. Most people who qualify never file it, and the reduction is not applied automatically.
What is the senior bonus deduction?
A temporary deduction of $6,000 per eligible person aged 65 or over, created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for tax years 2025 through 2028 only. A married couple where both are 65+ can claim $12,000. It phases out at 6% of income above $75,000 single or $150,000 joint, and it disappears entirely after 2028 unless Congress extends it.
Is an annuity a good way to turn a balance into income?
It buys certainty at the cost of flexibility and inheritance. The quoted payout rate is not a return: a 6% payout on a fixed annuity is mostly your own capital coming back to you, which is why the rate looks higher than any safe investment yield. It suits people who want a floor of guaranteed income, not people optimising for total wealth.