US Roth IRA Calculator

About US Roth IRA Calculator

How Does a Roth IRA Work?

A Roth IRA is funded with money that has already been taxed, grows tax-free, and pays out tax-free in retirement. There is no deduction on the way in and no tax on the way out, provided you meet the qualified-distribution rules.

The IRS rulebook (Publication 590-A and 590-B) sets four core rules:

• Your original contributions can be withdrawn at any time, at any age, without tax or penalty.
• Earnings withdraw tax-free only once you are at least 59.5 AND the Roth has been open for 5 tax years (the "five-year rule").
• There are no required minimum distributions during the original owner's lifetime - a major advantage over Traditional IRAs and 401(k)s, which force withdrawals starting at 73.
• Your ability to contribute directly phases out above certain Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) thresholds.

The contribution deadline for a given tax year is that year's federal filing deadline - typically April 15 of the following year. You can still make a 2025 Roth contribution until April 15, 2026, even if you have already filed, per IRS guidance.

2026 and 2025 Contribution Limits

The IRS raised the IRA contribution limit for 2026 by $500 in Notice 2025-67. The catch-up for age 50 and over also increased by $100 to $1,100.

Age	2026 Limit	2025 Limit	Catch-up
Under 50	$7,500	$7,000	None
50 and older	$8,600	$8,000	$1,100 (2026) / $1,000 (2025)

Two common misconceptions worth clearing up: the limit applies across all your IRA accounts combined (Roth + Traditional), and it applies per person, not per household. A married couple can each contribute up to their individual limit. You cannot put $7,500 into a Roth IRA and another $7,500 into a Traditional IRA in the same year.

Income Phase-Out Ranges (2026)

Direct Roth contributions start phasing out at the MAGI thresholds below. Inside the phase-out band, your allowed contribution is reduced proportionally. Above the top of the band, you cannot contribute directly - but the backdoor Roth path remains open.

Filing Status	Full Contribution	Reduced Contribution	No Contribution
Single / Head of Household	Under $153,000	$153,000 - $168,000	Over $168,000
Married Filing Jointly	Under $242,000	$242,000 - $252,000	Over $252,000
Married Filing Separately	$0	$0 - $10,000	Over $10,000

The Married Filing Separately band is deliberately punitive and has not been indexed - it was set at $10,000 when Roth IRAs launched in 1998 and has stayed there ever since. If you file separately and want to save in a Roth, a backdoor conversion is usually the practical route.

What Is a Backdoor Roth?

A backdoor Roth is a two-step workaround for high earners blocked by the income limits: contribute to a non-deductible Traditional IRA (no income cap), then convert that Traditional balance to a Roth. The conversion is not subject to income limits. The catch is the pro-rata rule - if you have any pre-tax money in a Traditional, SEP, or SIMPLE IRA, the conversion is taxed proportionally based on your total IRA balance, not just the new contribution. For a clean backdoor, your pre-tax IRA balance needs to be zero on December 31 of the conversion year.

Roth Growth Projections With Maximum Contributions

Maximum Roth contributions compound into meaningful wealth over long horizons. The table below uses the 2026 standard limit of $7,500 a year, annual compounding, and a starting balance of $0.

Years	Total Contributed	At 5%	At 7%	At 9%
10	$75,000	$99,040	$110,839	$124,148
20	$150,000	$260,381	$328,683	$418,055
30	$225,000	$523,167	$757,272	$1,113,625
40	$300,000	$951,327	$1,599,477	$2,758,124

Worked example. A 30-year-old who maxes $7,500 a year for 35 years at a 7% nominal return reaches roughly $1.04 million. Of that, $262,500 came from contributions and $777,500 is investment growth - all tax-free on qualified withdrawal. In a taxable brokerage account, that same growth would face a 15% or 20% long-term capital gains rate on realisation, shaving six figures off the final amount. The S&P 500 has returned about 10.3% a year nominally since 1957 per official SPDR and S&P Dow Jones Indices data, so 7% is a conservative after-inflation benchmark.

Roth IRA vs Traditional IRA

The decision between Roth and Traditional comes down to one question: will your marginal tax rate in retirement be higher or lower than today's? If higher, Roth wins. If lower, Traditional wins. Most savers in their 20s and 30s benefit from Roth because their current brackets are lower than they expect later; high earners near the top of the 32-37% brackets often benefit from Traditional deductions today.

	Roth IRA	Traditional IRA
Contributions	After-tax (no deduction)	Pre-tax (deductible subject to limits)
Growth	Tax-free	Tax-deferred
Retirement withdrawals	Tax-free (qualified)	Taxed as ordinary income
Required minimum distributions	None for owner	Start at age 73 (SECURE 2.0)
Early withdrawal of contributions	Anytime, no penalty	Usually taxed + 10% penalty
Income limits	Yes (phase-out above)	No cap to contribute; deduction may be limited
Inherited by non-spouse	10-year drawdown, tax-free	10-year drawdown, taxable

A straight comparison: $7,500 per year for 30 years at 7%. Both accounts reach about $757,272 before tax. In the Roth, you withdraw that amount tax-free. In a Traditional IRA with a 22% retirement tax bracket, you net roughly $590,672. The Roth is about $166,600 ahead. Flip the assumption - retire in the 12% bracket instead - and the Traditional nets $666,399, narrowing the gap to around $90,873. Run your own scenarios with our compound interest calculator to see how small changes in return assumption compound over decades.

The Roth IRA as an Emergency Backstop

Because contributions can be withdrawn anytime, tax-free and penalty-free, a Roth IRA doubles as a high-ceiling savings vehicle. The order the IRS uses for withdrawals is "contributions first, then conversions, then earnings" - so a new contributor can access every dollar they have put in before touching growth. Younger savers who worry about tying up money for 30 years can still max the Roth each year and treat the contributions as an emergency or opportunity fund if needed. For broader retirement planning including Social Security and workplace plans, see our retirement calculator.

Roth IRA Investment Strategy

Since Roth growth is permanently tax-free, standard asset-location advice is to hold your highest-expected-return investments inside the Roth. Vanguard, Fidelity, and Morningstar research all converge on the same pattern:

• Inside the Roth: Growth equities, small-cap and emerging-market funds, REITs (which generate heavily taxed ordinary income in taxable accounts), and high-yield bond funds. Anything that compounds aggressively or generates taxable distributions.
• In taxable brokerage: Broad-market index ETFs (already tax-efficient), municipal bonds, and assets generating qualified dividends taxed at long-term capital gains rates.
• In Traditional IRA / 401(k): Taxable bond funds, actively managed funds with high turnover, and other tax-inefficient holdings.
• Age-based allocation inside the Roth: In your 20s and 30s, 90-100% equities is defensible given the 30+ year horizon. From 55 onwards, gradually shift toward 60/40 or 50/50 equities/bonds to reduce sequence-of-returns risk.

What Counts as a Qualified Distribution?

A qualified Roth distribution - one that escapes all tax and penalty on both contributions and earnings - must meet two conditions simultaneously: the account must be at least five tax years old (counted from January 1 of the first year you contributed), AND one of the following must apply: you are at least 59.5, you are disabled, the withdrawal is up to $10,000 for a first home purchase, or the distribution is taken by your beneficiary after your death. If either condition fails, earnings may be subject to ordinary income tax plus a 10% early-distribution penalty, although the IRS grants several exceptions including qualified higher-education expenses, unreimbursed medical expenses above 7.5% of AGI, substantially equal periodic payments (SEPP), and up to $5,000 for a qualified birth or adoption.

Contributions are always recoverable tax-free because the IRS uses an ordering rule that treats contributions as withdrawn first, then conversions (oldest first), then earnings. That means an ongoing Roth contributor can pull every dollar they have personally deposited before touching any growth. This is one of the most underappreciated features of the account.

Common Mistakes

Five errors that come up repeatedly in retirement-plan audits and IRS correction programs:

• Excess contributions. Contributing above the income-phased or age-based limit triggers a 6% excise tax per year on the excess, until removed. Check your MAGI before December 31.
• Breaking the five-year rule. Even at 65, earnings from a Roth opened two years ago are not yet qualified. The clock starts on January 1 of the first year you contributed.
• Not funding every year you can. The IRA limit does not roll over. A skipped 2025 deposit is $7,000 of tax-free space gone forever after April 15, 2026.
• Ignoring the backdoor pro-rata trap. A pre-tax rollover IRA makes every backdoor conversion partially taxable. Roll the pre-tax balance into an employer 401(k) first if allowed.
• Forgetting spousal IRAs. A non-working spouse can contribute the full annual limit to their own IRA based on the working spouse's earned income. This effectively doubles household IRA space.

All calculations run in your browser. No financial data is stored or sent anywhere. This calculator is for educational estimates only and does not constitute tax or investment advice. Verify current limits and rules against official IRS guidance before making contribution decisions.

Sources

• IRS - 2026 IRA contribution limit increases to $7,500
• IRS Notice 2025-67 - 2026 retirement plan amounts
• IRS Publication 590-A - Contributions to IRAs
• IRS Publication 590-B - Distributions from IRAs
• IRS - Retirement Topics: IRA Contribution Limits
• SSA - Retirement benefit reference
• Vanguard - Roth IRA income and contribution limits