Behind? The Catch-Up Plan

The story: Marcus finds four levers

Marcus looks at a retirement gap, sets aside the idea of one risky bet, and closes the gap with four small changes shown as dials.

1. Narrator: Marcus is 45. Years of raising kids and paying the mortgage left retirement savings well short of Marcus’s own plan.
2. Marcus: Maybe I should put it all in one hot stock and make it back fast.
3. Narrator: A big bet can also lose big, with little time left to recover. Small levers work together instead.
4. Narrator: Lever one: save a little more, with automatic increases. Lever two: work two more years.
5. Narrator: Lever three: plan slightly lower spending. Lever four: start Social Security a bit later for a bigger check.
6. Marcus: None of those is huge on its own. Together, they close the gap.
7. Narrator: Pull several small levers instead of one risky one.

What you’ll learn

1. Compare with your own plan

   Plenty of people start saving seriously in their 40s or later. Being behind means behind your own retirement number, not behind anyone else. The fix is usually several small changes, not one dramatic one.

2. Lever 1: save more, with catch-up room

   Many people raise saving a little at a time, often with automatic increases. From a set age, catch-up rules allow extra each year: $8,000 more in a workplace plan and $1,100 more in an IRA. A few ages get a higher workplace catch-up: $11,250.

3. Lever 2: work a bit longer

   Working longer helps three ways at once: more years of saving, fewer years of retirement to pay for, and a bigger Social Security check for each year you wait to claim, up to a limit.

4. Levers 3 and 4, and what to skip

   Planning slightly lower spending shrinks the gap. Timing Social Security well can raise a check for life. Skip “make it back fast” bets like a single hot stock: a big loss near retirement leaves little time to recover.

Key words

catch-up contribution

extra savings room allowed after a set age

auto-escalation

a setting that raises your saving rate automatically each year

lever

one change you can make to move your plan

Common questions

Do higher earners have different catch-up rules?

Some higher earners must make catch-up contributions as Roth (after-tax) money. The IRS source on the fact card has the current rule.

Which lever should I pull first?

People usually start with the one that’s easiest for them, often saving a little more with automatic increases, then add others over time.

Remember this

Pull several small levers instead of one risky one.

Try it: Try one lever

1. Write down your retirement number and your yearly income gap.
2. Pick one lever and try it in the public retirement calculator.
3. Write down how much the result changes.
4. If your plan offers automatic increases, look at turning them on.

No account needed: try one lever in the free Retirement Calculator.

Live facts

Numbers that change over time, with when they were last checked and where they come from.

• 401(k) yearly limit

  $24,500

  What an employee can put into a 401(k), 403(b) or most 457 plans in a year, before catch-up

  As of 2026

  Source: IRS.gov(opens in a new tab)

• 401(k) catch-up at 50+

  $8,000

  Extra a worker aged 50 or older can add to a workplace plan

  As of 2026

  Source: IRS.gov(opens in a new tab)

• 401(k) catch-up at 60–63

  $11,250

  The higher catch-up for workers aged 60 to 63

  As of 2026

  Source: IRS.gov(opens in a new tab)

• IRA catch-up at 50+

  $1,100

  Extra IRA room for people aged 50 or older

  As of 2026

  Source: IRS.gov(opens in a new tab)

• Catch-up rules, including the Roth catch-up rule for higher earners

  Source: IRS.gov(opens in a new tab)