Total Contribution Limit – Multiple Accounts

Submitted by John Going on Wed, 2019-10-09 19:11

One of my client’s employer offers both a 403B and a 457 account. Can he contribute $62K to each (he is 55 years old), or is the total contribution limit by the employer and not by the defined contribution account type?

If the total contribution limit is by the employer and he also works for another employer who offers the same type of plans, can he put $62K in Employer A’s plans and $62K in Employer B’s plans?



Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Wed, 2019-10-09 19:57

  • He can contribute 62k to both the 403b and the 457 plans. While this limit is per employer, it only applies to qualified plans and the 457b is not a qualified plan. 
  • However, addition of Employer B triggers some caps. The elective deferral limit and catch up limits are individual limits and apply to all 403b plans, so if 25k was contributed to employer A 403b, there are no elective deferrals left for the 403b of Employer B. If one of these plans allows after tax employee contributions, those could be added.  Likewise, the 25k limit applies to all 457b plans combined, so maxing the 457b of Employer A eliminates contributions to Employer B’s 457. 

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