Yes, you can keep contributing to a 401(k) after age 72. There is no age ceiling on 401(k) contributions as long as you have earned income from the employer sponsoring the plan. The harder question is what happens with required minimum distributions while you’re still working, and that answer depends on your ownership stake in the company and whether your plan includes a “still-working” provision.
How Much You Can Contribute in 2026
For 2026, the employee deferral limit is $24,500. If you’re 50 or older, you can add $8,000 in catch-up contributions, for a personal cap of $32,500. Workers aged 60 through 63 get an enhanced catch-up of $11,250, bringing their total to $35,750. These limits apply to pre-tax and Roth contributions alike.1Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
With employer matching or profit-sharing added on, total additions to your account can reach $72,000 in 2026, or $80,000 with the standard catch-up, or $83,250 with the enhanced catch-up.2Internal Revenue Service. COLA Increases for Dollar Limitations on Benefits and Contributions
Higher Earners Must Use Roth for Catch-Ups
Starting January 1, 2026, if your Social Security wages from the prior year exceeded $145,000, any catch-up contributions have to go into a Roth account. If your plan does not offer a Roth option, you cannot make catch-up contributions at all. The $145,000 threshold is indexed for inflation and applies only to W-2 employees.3Internal Revenue Service. Treasury, IRS Issue Final Regulations on New Roth Catch-Up Rule, Other SECURE 2.0 Act Provisions
Required Minimum Distributions After 72
Contributing after 72 is straightforward. The complication is that traditional 401(k) balances are normally subject to required minimum distributions once you hit the statutory age. Miss an RMD and the IRS charges a 25% excise tax on the shortfall, dropping to 10% if you correct it within two years.4Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
Your starting age depends on your birth date:
- Born before July 1, 1949: RMDs started at 70½.
- Born July 1, 1949 through December 31, 1950: RMDs start at 72.
- Born January 1, 1951 through December 31, 1959: RMDs start at 73.
- Born January 1, 1960 or later: RMDs start at 75.
Your required beginning date is April 1 of the year after you reach the applicable age.5Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Resource Guide – Plan Participants – General Distribution Rules
One boundary worth flagging: traditional IRAs do not get any working-age reprieve. RMDs from a traditional IRA start on schedule whether you’re employed or not. Continued work only helps with the current employer’s 401(k).
The Still-Working Exception
If your plan allows it, the still-working exception lets you postpone RMDs from your current employer’s 401(k) until April 1 of the year after you actually retire, no matter how far past the statutory age you are. A 78-year-old who’s still on the payroll can keep contributing and skip RMDs from that plan.6Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs
The exception is not automatic. The IRS notes that “a retirement plan document may require you to begin receiving distributions after you reach age 73, even if you’re still employed.” Ask your plan administrator whether the delay is in your plan document before counting on it.4Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
It also applies only to the plan sponsored by your current employer. A 401(k) sitting at a former employer still requires RMDs on the normal schedule, and each 401(k) account’s RMD must come out of that specific account.6Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs
The IRS does not set a minimum-hours threshold for what counts as “still working.” What matters is that the employment is real: actual duties, actual control by the employer. A courtesy title with no work behind it will not qualify.7Internal Revenue Service. Employee (Common-Law Employee)
The 5% Owner Block
The still-working exception disappears if you own more than 5% of the business sponsoring the plan. More than 5% of the stock, voting power, or capital and profits interest means RMDs must start at the statutory age even if you show up every day.5Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Resource Guide – Plan Participants – General Distribution Rules
Family attribution rules widen the net. Stock held by your spouse, children, grandchildren, and parents can be counted as yours. Own 2% yourself while your spouse owns 4%, and the IRS treats you as a more-than-5% owner. A legally separated spouse under a divorce decree is excluded.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 318 – Constructive Ownership of Stock
The 5% test is applied in the plan year you reach your RMD triggering age. Once you’re classified as a 5% owner for RMD purposes, the still-working exception is permanently unavailable for that plan, even if you later sell down.
Roth 401(k) Contributions Skip Lifetime RMDs
Designated Roth 401(k) accounts no longer require distributions during the owner’s lifetime. SECURE 2.0 eliminated that requirement starting in 2024, putting Roth 401(k)s on the same footing as Roth IRAs.6Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs
For a Roth 401(k) distribution to come out fully tax-free, you need to have held the designated Roth account for at least five tax years and be at least 59½ (or disabled, or the distribution goes to a beneficiary at death). If you opened the Roth account late in your career, the five-year clock is worth tracking. Earnings pulled out before that period ends are taxable.9Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plans FAQs on Designated Roth Accounts
Rolling Old Accounts Into Your Current Plan
If you want to shelter more money under the still-working exception, you can roll old 401(k) balances (and in some plans, traditional IRA balances) into your current employer’s plan, provided that plan accepts incoming rollovers. Once inside the current plan, those assets ride along with the RMD delay.
Timing matters. Finish the rollover before you reach your RMD age. Once an RMD is due from the sending account, that year’s required distribution has to come out first; you cannot roll over an amount that is itself a required distribution.
Medicare Premiums and the Income Pileup
Wages past 72 stacked on top of Social Security and any RMDs can push your modified adjusted gross income into Medicare’s Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, or IRMAA, brackets. The surcharge applies to Part B and Part D premiums and is based on your tax return from two years prior.
For 2026, single filers avoid the surcharge at or below $109,000 of modified adjusted gross income; joint filers have a $218,000 threshold. Above those lines the surcharges climb quickly, reaching $487.00 per month on Part B for single filers with income above $500,000.10Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 2026 Medicare Parts A and B Premiums and Deductibles
Pre-tax deferrals lower current taxable income and can keep you under a bracket while you’re working. Roth deferrals do the opposite in the short term, but qualified Roth withdrawals do not count toward IRMAA later. For workers in their 70s expecting high income for only a few more years, routing catch-up dollars to Roth can pay off once the paychecks stop.