The maximum TSP contribution for 2026 is $24,500 in employee elective deferrals (Traditional + Roth TSP combined). Participants turning 50 or older in 2026 can make additional catch-up contributions. And agency or service contributions do not count against either number. All limits are set by the IRS per calendar year.
| TSP Max Contribution | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Elective deferral limit: your own contributions, Traditional + Roth | $24,500 | $23,500 |
| Catch-up limit for participants turning 50–59 or 64+ during the year | $8,000 | $7,500 |
| Catch-up limit for participants turning 60–63 during the year | $11,250 | $11,250 |
| Annual additions limit: total employee + agency contributions combined | $72,000 | $70,000 |
Source: 2026 IRS limits, as also published in TSP Bulletin 25-3 on November 19, 2025. The IRS announces annual limits in the fall. We update this page as soon as they do.
What the 2026 numbers add up to:
Set your age, your basic pay and how much you contribute to your TSP account each pay period. The calculator works out your limits for the year, what you are on track to contribute, and whether you are collecting the maximum possible agency contribution:
Your numbers
Change any of the presets below to calculate your personal TSP contribution limits:
Your 2026 maximum
To reach it, each pay period
over 26 pay dates
On track to contribute
Agency money you earn
Agency and service contributions assume FERS or BRS coverage. CSRS employees and members under the legacy military retirement system can contribute to the TSP but receive no agency money.
The elective deferral limit (IRC §402(g)) caps what you contribute from your own pay in a calendar year. Traditional (pre-tax) and Roth (after-tax) contributions share this limit in any mix — there is no separate Roth limit. Unlike an Individual Roth IRA account, Roth TSP has no income restriction (phase out).
The limit is per person, not per plan. If you contribute to the TSP and to another employer’s 401(k) or 403(b) in the same year, your combined contributions count against the same $24,500 elective deferral limit. (Contributing to multiple plans is common for reservists, or those changing jobs in mid-year.) The same goes for a participant with both a civilian and a uniformed-services TSP account.
Not counted against the limit: agency/service automatic and matching contributions, TSP catch-up contributions (they have their own limit), money rolled into the TSP from an IRA or other plan, and traditional contributions from tax-exempt combat-zone pay.
One timing detail: contributions belong to the year of the pay date. A pay period worked in late December but paid in January counts toward the new year’s limit.
A TSP participant who turns 50 or older during 2026 can contribute beyond the elective deferral limit, up to the catch-up limit. There is no separate catch-up election: once your regular contributions reach $24,500, further contributions automatically “spill over” and count as catch-up. You just set a per-pay-period amount that reaches your combined total.
Since 2025, the SECURE 2.0 Act gives participants in their early sixties a higher catch-up limit. It applies by birth year:
| If you were born in… | 2026 catch-up limit |
|---|---|
| 1962 or earlier (turning 64+) | $8,000 |
| 1963–1966 (turning 60–63) | $11,250 |
| 1967–1976 (turning 50–59) | $8,000 |
The higher limit applies only in the years you turn 60, 61, 62, or 63; from the year you turn 64 the regular catch-up limit applies again. Born after 1976: not catch-up eligible in 2026.
Starting in 2026, another SECURE 2.0 rule takes effect: if your 2025 wages from your agency or service exceeded $150,000, your catch-up contributions must be Roth. Once you reach the $24,500 pre-tax maximum, payroll automatically directs further contributions to your Roth balance — no action needed on your part. This changes the tax treatment: catch-up dollars are contributed after tax and withdrawn tax-free later, instead of the reverse. Below the wage threshold, traditional catch-up remains available as before.
The annual additions limit (IRC §415(c)) caps everything going into your account in a year except catch-up contributions: your own contributions plus all agency or service contributions. Most participants never get near it — maxing the elective deferral limit plus a full 5% match on even a $200,000 salary totals about $34,500. It matters mainly for uniformed-services members contributing tax-exempt combat-zone pay, which can exceed the elective deferral limit.
FERS employees and BRS service members receive two kinds of agency money. Everyone receives the automatic 1% of basic pay, whether or not they make elective deferrals. The TSP government match adds up to another 4%: dollar-for-dollar on the first 3% of pay you contribute, then 50 cents on the dollar on the next 2%. If you contribute 5%, the government puts in 5%. Think of this as free money 😊 No other investment offers a guaranteed return like that. If you set only one TSP savings goal for yourself this year, try to hit that 5% number.
| You contribute… | Automatic | Match | Total agency money |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | 1% | 0% | 1% |
| 1% | 1% | 1% | 2% |
| 2% | 1% | 2% | 3% |
| 3% | 1% | 3% | 4% |
| 4% | 1% | 3.5% | 4.5% |
| 5% or more | 1% | 4% | 5% |
Three rules to remember about agency contributions:
CSRS employees and members under the legacy military retirement system can contribute to the TSP but receive no agency matches.
The agency match follows each pay period’s contribution, and the TSP stops your contributions for the year as soon as you hit $24,500. If you reach your elective deferral limit in October, you’ll contribute 0% in the remaining pay periods, so a FERS or BRS participant gets no match for those periods. To collect the full year’s match, spread contributions so that you reach the limit in the final pay period of the year:
| 2026 target | Per pay period (26 pay dates) |
|---|---|
| $24,500 (under 50) | $943 |
| $32,500 (turning 50–59 or 64+) | $1,250 |
| $35,750 (turning 60–63) | $1,375 |
$943 × 26 slightly overshoots; the TSP automatically caps the final contribution at the limit, and for catch-up-eligible participants any overshoot simply spills into catch-up. Some payroll calendars have 27 pay dates in some years ($908 per period for the base limit) — check yours.
Under the Blended Retirement System, the automatic 1% begins after 60 days of service and matching begins after two years of service; uniformed members elect contributions as a percentage of basic pay. The match works just like the FERS schedule: 5% of pay contributed earns the full 5% in service contributions.
Deployed to a combat zone, pay is tax-exempt, and the contribution rules widen: traditional contributions from tax-exempt pay are not bound by the $24,500 elective deferral limit; they can continue up to the $72,000 annual additions limit. By contrast, Roth contributions from combat-zone pay still count against the regular $24,500 limit.
| Year | Elective deferral | Catch-up (50+) | Annual additions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $24,500 | $8,000 | $72,000 |
| 2025 | $23,500 | $7,500 | $70,000 |
| 2024 | $23,000 | $7,500 | $69,000 |
| 2023 | $22,500 | $7,500 | $66,000 |
| 2022 | $20,500 | $6,500 | $61,000 |
| 2021 | $19,500 | $6,500 | $58,000 |
| 2020 | $19,500 | $6,500 | $57,000 |
| 2019 | $19,000 | $6,000 | $56,000 |
| 2018 | $18,500 | $6,000 | $55,000 |
| 2017 | $18,000 | $6,000 | $54,000 |
The higher catch-up limit for participants turning 60–63 ($11,250 in 2025 and 2026) took effect in 2025 under SECURE 2.0.
Within the TSP itself, you can’t: payroll systems and the TSP reject contributions past your limit and stop them for the rest of the year. Going over is only possible across separate plans — TSP plus a civilian 401(k), or a civilian plus a uniformed-services TSP account — because each separate employer plan is unaware of your contributions to the other. If you’ve exceeded the limit during any calendar year, request a refund of the excess. Refunded traditional contributions are taxable in the year they were contributed, and the TSP issues a 1099-R for earnings on the refund.