401(k) Savings Limits

When I was working, I saved the maximum to my 401(k) account. So, I always kept up with the plan’s savings limits. If you haven’t heard, there are higher savings limits for 401(k) plans in 2025, plus a new “super catch-up” category. And it’s still early enough in the year for salaried workers to take advantage of them.

Thanks to an inflation adjustment, the maximum regular contribution to a 401(k) plan has increased by $500 to $23,500 in 2025. Workers ages 50 to 59 or 64+ can save $7,500 more in “catch-up” contributions in 2025, or $31,000 total.

New in 2025 is the super catch-up category, allowing workers aged 60 to 63 to mount a savings charge before retiring. They can save $11,250 in catch-up contributions—or $34,750 total—to their 401(k) account this year.

Which brings me to the fly in the ointment. With savings limits this high, most workers don’t make enough to ring the top bell. In 2023, only 14% of workers contributed the maximum to their retirement plan, according to Vanguard’s How America Saves 2024, which analyzes the behaviors of some 5 million plan participants.

Here’s my low-stress saving suggestion. Don’t try to leap over the high bar in one go. Instead, if you’re working, raise your savings by 1% of your pay. I didn’t feel much difference in my take-home pay when I did. Then do it again next year, and so on. Maybe you‘ll hit the savings limit, or maybe you won’t. But you should be able to retire someday.

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