Roth Catch Up Question
Hello, this is related to the new rule in 2026 requiring catch-up contributions to be Roth.
What about a scenario where someone works for two separate employers making W2 wages and their combined wages is over $145k, but their respective wages at each company are both less than $145k? Would all catch-ups still need to be Roth because the total wages exceeds $145K? Or is the rule plan specific so they could still do pretax catchups since they don’t exceed the $145k at either employer/plan?
Thank you.
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Wed, 2025-08-27 13:55
They can still receive pre tax catch up contributions. The 145k limit for prior year wages only considers the wages of the current employer.
Therefore, if in 2025 wages were 300k at employer A, and 100k at next employer B and taxpayer works for B in 2026, the wages at A are disregarded, and because B wages were less than 145k, the catch up for B in 2026 can be pre tax.