Roth IRA Calculator
Your income and the 2026 limits
Your result will appear here
Fill in the fields on the left and this updates as you type.
Know what this estimate is based on
- Jurisdiction
- General mathematical model
- Scope and limitations
- Scenario model, not a forecast. Returns, volatility, inflation, fees, and taxes are assumptions and actual investment outcomes can be lower or negative.
- Source links checked
- Jul 30, 2026
Built and regression-tested by Smart Tools Lab. It has not been individually reviewed by a licensed financial, tax, or legal professional.
How to use
- 01
Enter your modified adjusted gross income and your age.
- 02
Check the phase-out band. It opens at the 2026 single figures, $153,000 to $168,000; for married filing jointly enter $242,000 and $252,000.
- 03
Add the years until you retire and the return you expect.
- 04
Read what you may actually contribute this year, then what that contribution — and the same contribution every year — grows to tax-free.
Formula
Allowed = min(limit + catch-up if 50 or over, limit × (phase-out end − MAGI) ÷ (phase-out end − phase-out start), your earned income). Below the band you get the full limit; above it, nothing.
Example
At 35 with $130,000 of MAGI you are under the band, so the whole $7,500 is available; at 6% over 30 years that one contribution becomes about $43,076, and repeating it every year builds about $592,936. At $160,500 — halfway through the band — the allowance halves to $3,750. At $168,000 it is zero.
Definitions
- MAGI
- Modified adjusted gross income: AGI with certain deductions added back. It is the figure the Roth phase-out is measured against.
- Phase-out band
- The income range over which the allowance falls in a straight line from the full limit to nothing.
- Catch-up contribution
- An extra $1,100 in 2026 for savers aged 50 and over, on top of the $7,500 limit.
Good to know
Eligibility comes before growth
Most Roth IRA calculators project a balance. That is the easy half, and Compound Interest and Future Value already do it. The half that decides anything is whether you may contribute at all, and how much — because a Roth contribution is limited twice over. The annual limit is $7,500 in 2026, with $1,100 more from age 50. Above it sits an income test: contributions phase out between $153,000 and $168,000 of modified AGI for a single filer, and between $242,000 and $252,000 for a couple filing jointly. Inside that band the allowance falls in a straight line; above the top of it, it is zero. Projecting growth on a contribution the law does not permit is the one error this page is built to prevent.
The limit you cannot exceed, whatever your income
There is a third cap that almost never appears in a calculator: you cannot contribute more than you earned. Someone with $2,000 of earned income may put in $2,000, not $7,500, no matter what the annual limit says. It catches part-year workers, students, and anyone living on investment income — and it matters for a spouse with no earnings of their own, who can still contribute through a spousal IRA against the working spouse's income on a joint return. Earned income means wages and net self-employment profit; interest, dividends, capital gains, rental income and Social Security do not count.
What tax-free actually buys
The Roth's advantage is not that contributions are cheap — they are made with money already taxed — but that nothing is ever taxed again. No tax on the growth, no tax on qualified withdrawals after 59½ once the account has been open five years, and no required minimum distributions in your lifetime, which is what makes a Roth the most efficient account to leave to heirs. Set against a taxable brokerage account holding the same investments, the saving is the capital gains tax on decades of growth: $7,500 a year for 30 years at 6% builds about $592,936, of which $367,936 is gain — around $55,000 of tax at 15% that a Roth simply never incurs. Contributions, as opposed to earnings, can also be withdrawn at any time without tax or penalty, which makes a Roth a quiet second-line emergency fund.
When the band shuts you out
Above the phase-out there is still a route in. A backdoor Roth is a non-deductible contribution to a traditional IRA followed by a conversion to a Roth — legal, common, and explicitly acknowledged by Congress. The trap is the pro-rata rule: the conversion is taxed in proportion to all your pre-tax IRA money combined, so someone holding a large rollover IRA can find that most of a supposedly tax-free backdoor conversion is taxable. Rolling that pre-tax balance into a current employer's 401(k) first, where the plan allows it, is the usual fix. The Roth Conversion Calculator prices the tax either way.
Frequently asked questions
Why does this ask for my income rather than just projecting growth?
Because eligibility is the question a Roth IRA page has to answer first. Compound Interest and Future Value already project growth. What neither does is tell you whether you may put the money in at all — and above the phase-out band the answer is no, whatever the projection says.
There is no filing-status dropdown. How do I switch to married filing jointly?
Edit the two band fields. The phase-out is not a simple double for joint filers, so a dropdown would have to hide a second table; instead both edges are yours to set, and the 2026 joint figures are named on the labels: $242,000 to $252,000.
Why is my contribution capped at my income?
An IRA contribution cannot exceed your earned income for the year. Someone with $2,000 of earnings may contribute $2,000, not $7,500. It is an easy rule to leave out of a calculator and it changes the answer completely for part-year and low-income savers.
I am over the band. Is there any way in?
A backdoor Roth — a non-deductible traditional IRA contribution followed by a conversion — is the usual route, and the Roth Conversion Calculator prices the tax on it. Be aware of the pro-rata rule: if you hold other pre-tax IRA money, part of the conversion is taxable in proportion, which can make the move much more expensive than it looks.
Roth or the 401(k) first?
The usual order is the employer match first, because that is an immediate return no market has to provide, then an IRA for its wider investment choice, then back to the plan. The 401(k) Calculator shows what the match is worth at your current rate.