Starting this year, workers ages 60 to 63 can contribute an additional $11,250 to their 401(k) s, on top of the standard employee limit, bringing their maximum annual contribution to $35,750. The provision, created by SECURE 2.0, targets the exact window when many workers realize they are short of their retirement goal and still have earning years left to close the gap. The design is generous, but uptake has been limited.
Fidelity’s Q4 2025 recordkeeping data covers 26,200 corporate defined contribution plans and 24.8 million participants. Among participants who were both offered and eligible for catch-up contributions, 15.2% made a catch-up contribution in 2025, and only 8.6% met the standard maximum contribution at all. The super catch-up is layered on top of a behavior most workers already do not exhibit.
What the New Limits Actually Look Like
The 2026 employee deferral limit is $24,500, up from $23,500 in 2025. Workers 50 to 59 and those 64 and older get a standard catch-up of $8,000. Workers 60 to 63 get the enhanced amount of $11,250, which is the same figure that applied in 2025. At age 64, the enhanced option disappears, and the worker reverts to the usual catch-up amount. It is a four-year window.
There is also a tax change worth noting. Under SECURE 2.0, catch-up contributions from workers earning above $150,000 in FICA wages must go into a Roth 401(k) rather than a pretax account. The New York Times, citing tax preparer Tom O’Saben, described the effect on a 62-year-old employee in the 24% bracket making the maximum $11,250 contribution: previously, the contribution could have been made on a pretax basis, lowering the person’s taxable income and reducing federal income tax by about $2,700. That deduction is gone for higher earners, which changes the cash-flow math on the very contribution the rule was meant to encourage.
The Income and Cash-Flow Reality
Median usual weekly earnings for full-time workers were $1,235 in the first quarter of 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Annualized, that is roughly $64,000 before taxes. Setting aside $35,750 would consume more than half of a typical single earner’s pretax income. For a household with two incomes and no other savings pressures, it becomes plausible. For most workers in the 60-63 age range, it does not.
The macro backdrop makes the ceiling harder to reach. The personal savings rate was 3.9% in the first quarter of 2026, down from 5.2% in the first quarter of 2025. Average annual consumer expenditures were $78,535 in 2024, per the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey. Households are spending more of what they earn, and the pool of dollars left over for a $35,750 retirement contribution is small.
Why the Window Was Created
Fidelity’s data on workers approaching retirement helps explain the policy intent. The average 401(k) balance for participants ages 60 to 64 was $246,500, and for ages 55 to 59 it was $244,900. Fidelity’s own age-based guideline suggests 8x salary saved by age 60 and 10x by 67. A worker earning $80,000 would need $640,000 by age 60 under that framework. Average balances in the 60 to 64 bracket sit well below that target, and average figures are skewed higher by large accounts. The typical worker in this window is behind, which is precisely who the super catch-up was written for.
What the Rule Actually Delivers
The 2026 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is 2.8%, a modest bump that will not materially close a retirement gap for someone arriving at 65 short of their target. The super catch-up is one of the few tools available to move the number meaningfully in a short period. Four years of maximum contributions at $35,750, invested and compounded, is a different retirement than four years of average deferrals at 9.5% of pay.
The rule expands the contribution ceiling, while the Fidelity participation figures show actual usage. Among the workers in the 60 to 63 age window, the enhanced catch-up is available to nearly all of them but used by only a small fraction. For those with the cash flow to fund it, the arithmetic of the four-year window is the entire point of the provision.
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