457(b) Maximizer for 2026

Enter your age at the end of 2026, choose how many pay periods your department runs in a year, and type the dollar amount currently coming out of each paycheck for your 457(b). Include traditional and Roth deferrals together, since they share one limit. The last question asks whether your 2025 Social Security wages from this employer were above $150,000, because that decides whether a catch-up rule applies to you.

The tool returns your 2026 annual limit, the per-paycheck figure that reaches it, and either the amount to add per check or a note that you are already at or past the pace. Under that it prints notes on the rules that touch your situation, including the special 3-year catch-up and the fact that a 401(k) or 403(b) carries its own separate limit.

Age matters more than most people expect here. The catch-up structure changes at 50, changes again at 60, and reverts at 64, so an estimate built on last year's age can be wrong by thousands.

Nothing you enter is saved or sent anywhere. No email field, no account. Reload the page and it has forgotten you.

Every figure below is a published 2026 IRS amount from Notice 2025-67. The tool does not adjust them, guess at future years, or apply anything your plan document might restrict further.

Under 50: $24,500

The basic elective deferral limit for a governmental 457(b) in 2026. Across 26 pay periods that is roughly $942.31 per check.

Age 50 to 59, and 64 and over: $32,500

The basic $24,500 plus the $8,000 age-50 catch-up. Eligibility is based on your age at the end of the year, not your birthday date, so the year you turn 50 you get the whole thing.

Age 60 to 63: $35,750

The basic $24,500 plus the $11,250 super catch-up for ages 60 through 63. This one replaces the $8,000 catch-up rather than stacking on top of it, which is the detail people most often get wrong. At 64 you go back to the $32,500 figure.

The special 3-year catch-up: up to $49,000

In the three years before your plan's normal retirement age, a 457(b) can allow deferrals up to twice the basic limit. It depends on deferrals you did not use in earlier years, and it cannot be combined with the age-50 catch-up in the same year. The math is specific to your plan and your history, so the tool names the rule and sends you to your plan provider rather than pretending to calculate it.

The tool also flags a fact that costs firefighters real money when they miss it: if your employer offers a 401(k) or 403(b) alongside the 457(b), that plan has its own separate limit. The two do not share a ceiling.

It answers one question, which is how much you are allowed to defer and what that means per paycheck. It stops there deliberately.

• It does not say you should max it. Whether a larger deferral is right for you depends on your debts, your emergency fund, your household, and your tax picture. That is a conversation for a licensed CPA or a fee-only advisor who has seen your whole situation, not a calculator.
• It does not calculate your take-home. A traditional deferral lowers taxable pay, a Roth deferral does not, and the effect on your check depends on your bracket, your state withholding, and your other deductions. Your payroll portal will show you the real change.
• It does not project growth. No returns, no ending balance, no retirement income. Nothing here forecasts what a balance becomes.
• It does not know your plan document. Plans can be more restrictive than the IRS limit, and they set their own normal retirement age, which is what drives the special 3-year catch-up window.
• It does not compute the special 3-year catch-up. That figure needs your history of unused deferrals, which only your plan provider holds.
• It does not touch investment selection or fees. Contributing the maximum into an expensive product is a different problem, and it is the one the fee drag tool is for.
• It is 2026 only. IRS limits are adjusted for inflation. Come back when the new numbers are published rather than assuming these carry forward.

One more thing worth saying plainly: a 457(b) is not a pension supplement in the sense of being guaranteed. It is your money in market investments, and it can go down.