Roth IRA Calculator: Growth, 2026 Limits and Income Phase-Out

Enter your age, the age you plan to retire, what's in your Roth IRA now, what you plan to add each year and the return you want to assume. The calculator applies the 2026 limits — $7,500 a year, $8,600 from age 50 — and reduces the contribution if your income is in the Roth phase-out range. It shows the balance at retirement, how much of it you put in and how much is growth. Returns are an assumption, not a forecast: markets rise and fall, and the balance can be lower.

2026 Roth IRA limits

For 2026 the IRS limit on IRA contributions is $7,500, plus a $1,100 catch-up if you are 50 or older, across all your Traditional and Roth IRAs combined, and never more than your taxable compensation for the year. Roth contributions phase out with modified adjusted gross income (MAGI): between $153,000 and $168,000 for single filers and heads of household, and between $242,000 and $252,000 for married couples filing jointly ($0–$10,000 if married filing separately). Inside the range the limit shrinks in a straight line: limit × (1 − (MAGI − lower bound) ÷ range), rounded up to the next $10, with a $200 minimum (IRS Publication 590-A, Worksheet 2-2). A single filer aged 30 with a MAGI of $160,000 can contribute $4,000.

The growth formula

The calculator assumes you contribute at the start of each year and earn the same return every year: balance = starting balance × (1 + r)^n + contribution × ((1 + r)^n − 1) ÷ r × (1 + r), where r is the yearly return and n the number of years. One year of $7,500 at 7% ends at $8,025. Qualified withdrawals — after age 59½ and at least five years after your first Roth contribution — are tax-free under IRS Publication 590-B, so the whole balance is yours to spend; contributions themselves can come out at any time.

A worked example

Starting at 30 with nothing saved and adding $7,500 every year until 65 — 35 contributions — you put in $262,500. At an assumed 7% a year the balance would reach $1,109,351, of which $846,851 is growth. Starting earlier matters more than any other input, because each dollar has longer to compound:

What the calculator leaves out

Limits rise with inflation most years, so you may be able to contribute more later. Fees reduce returns: subtract a fund's expense ratio from the return you enter. Early withdrawals of earnings can be taxed and penalised. If your income is above the phase-out, a Roth may still be reachable through other routes that have their own tax rules; check IRS Publication 590-A or a tax professional first. This is an illustration, not investment advice.

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