How to use this Roth IRA calculator
- Enter your age, the age you plan to retire and your current Roth IRA balance (zero if you are just starting).
- Enter what you plan to contribute each year. Anything above the IRS limit for your age is capped automatically, and the cap rises at 50.
- Choose an expected return. Returns are not guaranteed; try a lower and a higher rate to see a range.
- Open “Income limit & taxable comparison” to enter your filing status and modified AGI. The calculator tells you whether a full, partial or no contribution is allowed and uses the reduced limit.
How a Roth IRA works
A Roth IRA is an individual retirement account funded with money you have already paid tax on. You get no deduction when you contribute, but investment growth is never taxed along the way, and qualified withdrawals in retirement are tax-free. That makes the growth portion of the account, often the largest part after a few decades, permanently tax-free.
- Contributions come from earned income (taxable compensation). You can contribute at any age.
- Timing: you can contribute for a tax year at any time during that year or up to your tax-return due date, not counting extensions.
- No required minimum distributions while you are alive, unlike a traditional IRA. You can leave the money invested as long as you like.
- Your contributions can come back out without tax, because distributions are treated as coming from regular contributions first and earnings last.
Roth IRA growth formula
With the same contribution every year, deposited in equal monthly amounts, and a steady annual return, the balance after N years is:
B = B0 × (1 + R)^N + (C / 12) × ((1 + R)^N − 1) / m
- B
- balance at retirement
- B0
- current balance
- C
- annual contribution (up to the IRS limit)
- R
- expected annual return
- m
- monthly rate = (1 + R)^(1/12) − 1
- N
- years until retirement
Worked example
Take a 30-year-old with B0 = $10,000 contributing C = $7,500 a year until 65 (N = 35) at R = 7%. The monthly rate is m = 0.005654 and (1 + R)N = 10.6766. The current balance grows to $106,765.81, and the contributions grow to $625 × (10.6766 − 1) ÷ 0.005654 = $1,069,633.52. Together that is $1,176,399. You put in $272,500, so $903,899 is growth you will never pay tax on if you take it out as a qualified distribution.
2026 Roth IRA contribution limits
The IRA limit for 2026 is $7,500, plus a $1,100 catch-up if you are 50 or older by the end of the year. It is one combined limit for all of your traditional and Roth IRAs, and it is separate from the limits for workplace plans such as a 401(k) (see the 2026 401(k) and IRA limits). You also can’t contribute more than your taxable compensation for the year.
| Age at the end of 2026 | Maximum Roth IRA contribution |
|---|---|
| Under 50 | $7,500 |
| 50 or older | $8,600 |
2026 Roth IRA income limits
Whether you can contribute depends on your filing status and modified adjusted gross income (MAGI):
| Filing status | Full contribution | Reduced contribution | No contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single, head of household, or married filing separately and did not live with spouse | Under $153,000 | $153,000 to under $168,000 | $168,000 or more |
| Married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouse | Under $242,000 | $242,000 to under $252,000 | $252,000 or more |
| Married filing separately and lived with spouse at any time in the year | $0 only | Over $0 to under $10,000 | $10,000 or more |
How the reduced limit is figured
Inside the phase-out range, IRS Publication 590-A (Worksheet 2-2) cuts your limit in proportion to how far your MAGI is into the range, rounds the result up to the next $10, and sets a $200 minimum if the result is above zero. For example:
- A single filer under 50 with MAGI of $160,500 is halfway through the $153,000–$168,000 range: $7,500 becomes $3,750.
- The same filer at 55 starts from $8,600 and can contribute $4,300.
- A married couple filing jointly with MAGI of $244,500 is a quarter of the way through their range: $7,500 becomes $5,630 each.
If you are above the range you can still contribute to a traditional IRA, which has no income limit (though its deduction may be limited if you or your spouse has a workplace plan).
Roth IRA at 65 if you max it out
Balance at 65 from a $0 start, contributing the 2026 maximum every year ($7,500, then $8,600 from 50), with limits held flat. Starting at 30 at 7%, for example, $280,100 of contributions grows to $1,101,283.
| Starting age | 5% return | 7% return | 9% return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | $953,192 | $1,576,363 | $2,674,802 |
| 30 | $719,404 | $1,101,283 | $1,721,306 |
| 35 | $536,224 | $762,557 | $1,101,599 |
| 40 | $392,698 | $521,050 | $698,831 |
| 45 | $280,242 | $348,859 | $437,060 |
| 50 | $189,791 | $222,958 | $262,758 |
| 55 | $110,627 | $122,587 | $135,965 |
How much is tax-free growth worth?
The calculator compares your Roth IRA with a regular taxable brokerage account that receives the same after-tax dollars. To keep it simple, it assumes the taxable account loses a fixed share of each year’s return to taxes (the “tax rate on taxable-account returns”). That treats all growth as if it were taxed as it is earned, like interest. In practice, stock investors who buy and hold defer tax on unrealized gains and may pay lower long-term capital-gains rates, so their real gap is usually smaller; bond or high-turnover investors can lose more. Here is the default example at several rates:
| Tax on returns | Roth IRA | Taxable account | Roth advantage | Share of Roth balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $1,176,399 | $996,912 | $179,487 | 15.3% |
| 15% | $1,176,399 | $919,025 | $257,374 | 21.9% |
| 20% | $1,176,399 | $848,057 | $328,343 | 27.9% |
| 25% | $1,176,399 | $783,357 | $393,042 | 33.4% |
Qualified distributions and the 5-year rule
According to IRS Publication 590-B, a Roth IRA distribution is qualified, and therefore tax-free, when both of these are true:
- It is made after the 5-year period that begins with the first tax year for which you made a contribution to a Roth IRA.
- You are 59½ or older, you are disabled, the payment goes to a beneficiary or your estate after your death, or it is used for a qualified first-time home purchase (up to a $10,000 lifetime limit).
Money that doesn’t meet these rules isn’t automatically taxed. Distributions come out in a set order: your regular contributions first (never taxed), then conversion and rollover amounts, then earnings. Only the earnings portion of a non-qualified distribution may be taxable and subject to the 10% additional tax on early distributions, unless an exception applies. Conversions have separate 5-year rules; see Publication 590-B.
Roth IRA vs. traditional IRA
| Roth IRA | Traditional IRA | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax deduction for contributions | No | Possibly (limited if you have a workplace plan and higher income) |
| Taxes on growth | None on qualified distributions | Taxed as income when withdrawn |
| Income limit to contribute | Yes (phase-out above) | No |
| Required minimum distributions | None while the owner is alive | Yes, starting at the required age |
| Combined contribution limit | $7,500 ($8,600 at 50+) | $7,500 ($8,600 at 50+) |
The core trade-off is when you pay tax. If your tax rate in retirement will be the same as today, a Roth and a deductible traditional contribution leave you with the same after-tax money; the Roth wins if your rate will be higher later, the traditional IRA if it will be lower. The Roth’s other advantages are flexibility (contributions can be taken out, no required distributions) and certainty about taxes. For your whole retirement picture, combine this with the 401(k) calculator and the retirement calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How much can I contribute to a Roth IRA in 2026?
Up to $7,500, or $8,600 if you are 50 or older by the end of the year. That limit is shared with any traditional IRA contributions, and you can’t contribute more than your taxable compensation. The amount is reduced or eliminated at higher incomes (see the income limits above).
What are the Roth IRA income limits for 2026?
Single and head-of-household filers can make a full contribution with modified AGI under $153,000; the limit phases out until $168,000. For married couples filing jointly the phase-out runs from $242,000 to $252,000. Married people filing separately who lived together at any time in the year phase out between $0 and $10,000.
How is a partial Roth IRA contribution calculated?
IRS Publication 590-A, Worksheet 2-2, reduces your limit in proportion to how far your modified AGI is into the phase-out range, then rounds up to the next $10, with a $200 minimum. A single filer under 50 with MAGI of $160,500 is halfway through the range, so the $7,500 limit becomes $3,750.
Are Roth IRA withdrawals tax-free?
Qualified distributions are tax-free. A distribution is qualified if it is made after the 5-year period that starts with the first tax year you contributed to any Roth IRA, and you are 59½ or older, disabled, a beneficiary after the owner’s death, or using up to $10,000 for a first home. Withdrawals of your regular contributions are also not taxed.
What is the Roth IRA 5-year rule?
For earnings to come out tax-free, the distribution must be made after a 5-year period that begins with the first tax year for which you made a contribution to a Roth IRA. Because the clock starts with a tax year, a contribution made for a year counts from the beginning of that year. Opening a second Roth IRA later doesn’t start a new clock for this test.
Is a Roth IRA better than a traditional IRA?
It depends mainly on your tax rate now versus in retirement. A Roth IRA gives no deduction today but tax-free qualified withdrawals, which favors people who expect the same or a higher tax rate later. A traditional IRA may give a deduction now, but withdrawals are taxed. Many savers split contributions between the two to diversify their future tax exposure.
What happens if I contribute too much to a Roth IRA?
An excess contribution is subject to a 6% excise tax for each year it stays in the account. You can avoid the tax by withdrawing the excess and any earnings on it by your tax-return due date, including extensions; the earnings are then taxable income. This commonly happens when income ends up higher than expected, pushing you into or past the phase-out range.