Free · Pre-tax · 2026 limits

Traditional IRA calculator

Project your Traditional IRA at retirement with pre-tax contributions, tax-deferred growth, and 2026 IRS limits. Deduct now, pay tax on withdrawals at 73+.

2026 Traditional IRA limits · IRS Pub 590-A · Notice 2025-79

$7,000 contribution · $8,000 if 50+ · deduction phase-out at $79–$89k single

Traditional IRA deduction phase-out for 2026 (covered by workplace plan): single $79,000–$89,000 MAGI, married filing jointly $126,000–$146,000. Above the ceiling the contribution still works but loses the deduction — it becomes a non-deductible basis you'll need to track on Form 8606 forever.

We surface the non-deductible scenario because Form 8606 errors are the most common multi-decade tax mistake in IRA-land — and a bad calculator default is usually how it starts.

Traditional vs Roth IRA — the tax timing trade

Traditional IRA: contributions are tax-deductible (subject to income limits if you have a workplace plan), growth is tax-deferred, and withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income. Roth IRA flips it — pay tax now, never again.

The math is symmetric if your tax bracket today equals your tax bracket at withdrawal. Pick Traditional if you're in your peak earning years (24–37% bracket) and expect a lower retirement bracket. Pick Roth if early-career or expecting higher future income.

2026 deduction phase-outs (if covered by workplace plan)

Single covered by 401(k): deduction phases out $79,000–$89,000 MAGI
Married joint, you're covered: $126,000–$146,000 MAGI
Married joint, spouse covered: $236,000–$246,000 MAGI
Not covered by workplace plan: fully deductible at any income

Required Minimum Distributions

At age 73 (SECURE 2.0), you must start withdrawing from your Traditional IRA each year. The first-year RMD divisor is 26.5, so on $1M you'd withdraw about $37,700. Skip an RMD and the IRS hits you with a 25% penalty (reduced to 10% if corrected quickly).

Roth IRAs have no lifetime RMDs — one reason to convert Traditional → Roth in low-income years before RMDs kick in.

IRA Calculator FAQ

How much can I contribute to a Traditional IRA in 2026?

$7,000 if under 50, $8,000 with the $1,000 catch-up if 50 or older. This limit is shared with the Roth IRA — combined contributions to all your IRAs can't exceed it.

Is my IRA contribution tax-deductible?

Fully deductible if neither you nor your spouse are covered by a workplace retirement plan. If covered, the deduction phases out based on MAGI (see phase-out table above). You can always contribute, but the deduction may be limited or denied.

What's the tax hit when I withdraw from a Traditional IRA?

Withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income at your marginal rate in the year of withdrawal. Before age 59½, add a 10% early-withdrawal penalty. After 73, you must take Required Minimum Distributions or face a 25% penalty.

Can I do a Traditional → Roth conversion?

Yes. You pay ordinary income tax on the converted amount in the year you convert, then it grows tax-free in the Roth. Common strategies: convert during low-income years (early retirement, sabbatical) or fill up the 12% bracket each year.

Traditional IRA vs 401(k) — should I prioritize one?

Get the 401(k) match first. Then choose IRA over 401(k) if your 401(k) has high fees or limited fund choices. Otherwise max the 401(k) ($23,500 vs $7,000) for the bigger pre-tax shelter.

Can I have both a Traditional IRA and a Roth IRA?

Yes — but combined contributions across both accounts can't exceed $7,000 ($8,000 with catch-up). Splitting ($3,500 each) is a way to build tax diversification.

Related calculators

Roth IRA calculator

Tax-free retirement growth.

401(k) calculator

Higher pre-tax limits with match.

RMD calculator

Required Minimum Distributions at 73.

Retirement calculator

Combined retirement target.

Methodology, sources, and editorial standards

The ira calculator on this page uses the same closed-form math published by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's consumer-investor portal at Investor.gov and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Every number you see is generated client-side in your browser — no data is sent to our servers, no account is required, and no personally identifiable information is stored or shared. The calculation assumes constant rates and contributions over the modeled period; real-world returns, fees, and tax treatment vary year to year, and the figures presented are educational projections, not personalized financial advice.

We cite primary data sources directly within the FAQs and snapshot block above. Historical return assumptions are drawn from NYU Stern's historical returns database (Aswath Damodaran) and Robert Shiller's S&P 500 dataset. Inflation comparisons rely on the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI series. Mortgage and credit-card market data come from Freddie Mac's PMMS and the Federal Reserve's G.19 release, respectively. Where we publish our own multi-scenario research, the dataset is available under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 license at snowballr.io/data.

Snowballr is an independent, ad-supported publication. We do not sell financial products, accept affiliate commissions on bank, brokerage, or loan products, or take payment for editorial placement. Our editorial standards describe how we source, fact-check, and update every calculator and guide. The full master sources index lists every primary reference used across the site, organized by topic. For corrections, updates, or fact-checking inquiries, contact us via the contact page; we typically respond within 24–48 hours.

Important disclaimer: This calculator is provided for educational purposes only. It does not constitute investment, tax, accounting, legal, or financial-planning advice and should not be used as the sole basis for any decision about your money. Compound projections, debt-payoff schedules, and retirement estimates depend on assumptions that will change in real life — investment returns are not guaranteed, market downturns can extend recovery timelines, fees and taxes reduce realized growth, and inflation erodes the real purchasing power of nominal balances. Before making a financial decision based on any number you calculate here, consult a fiduciary financial advisor, a licensed tax professional, or both, as appropriate to your situation. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Who uses this calculator

The ira calculator is used by three distinct audiences, each for a different question. New investors and savers use it to answer the foundational "what could this become?" question — they enter conservative monthly amounts and realistic return assumptions to see whether building meaningful wealth on a normal salary is actually possible. The answer, for almost every income level, is yes; the math just requires patience and consistency that intuition resists. Mid-career professionals use the same tool to stress-test their retirement plan against catch-up contributions, late-career raises, and the trade-off between paying down debt and investing in tax-advantaged accounts.

Pre-retirees and recent retirees use the calculator to validate withdrawal sustainability and to model what happens if a market downturn coincides with the start of retirement. Educators, financial coaches, and personal-finance bloggers use Snowballr's calculators in their teaching because every input is visible, every formula is documented, and the year-by-year breakdown lets learners see exactly where compounding pulls ahead of contributions. We support that use case explicitly under our Creative Commons license — you can embed any calculator on your own site using the snippet generator at /widgets and cite Snowballr per the citation guide.

Common assumptions and how to interpret the numbers

The output is only as accurate as the inputs and the assumptions that bridge them to real life. Three categories of assumption deserve the most scrutiny. Returns are nominal unless explicitly labeled real (inflation-adjusted); a seven-percent nominal return is closer to four-percent real, which materially changes long-horizon projections. Inflation itself averaged just under three percent in the U.S. from 1928 through 2024 but ran above five percent in roughly fifteen of those years and below zero in three. Average expense ratios for index funds dropped from roughly one-and-a-half percent in 2000 to under a tenth of a percent today, but actively managed mutual funds still average about half a percent — which translates to a quarter of the final balance lost to fees over a thirty-year horizon at typical contribution rates.

Taxes affect both contributions and withdrawals in ways the headline number does not show. Pre-tax contributions in a traditional 401(k) or IRA receive a deduction today but trigger ordinary income tax on withdrawal. Roth contributions are post-tax today but grow and withdraw tax-free. Taxable brokerage accounts pay tax annually on dividends and at sale on capital gains. If you are comparing projected balances across account types, equalize by reducing pre-tax balances by your expected retirement tax rate and adding back the dividend drag on the taxable account; otherwise the comparison is misleading. Our 401(k) vs Roth IRA comparison walks through this explicitly with worked examples at three tax-bracket scenarios.

For inputs you are uncertain about, run the calculator twice with a high and a low value to see how sensitive the answer is to your assumption. If a two-percent rate change moves the final balance by less than ten percent, the assumption is not very load-bearing. If it moves the balance by forty percent or more, that input dominates the model and deserves the most careful estimation. The single highest-leverage input in almost every compound-interest scenario is time — every additional year compounds geometrically — followed by rate, then contribution, then starting principal in roughly that order.