Skip to content
ChalkCalculator

Money

Roth IRA Calculator

Your contribution limit after the income phase-out, and what those contributions could grow to tax-free.

Enter your age and income to see your contribution limit and what it could grow to.

Eligibility

Roughly your AGI. Above a threshold your contribution limit shrinks and then disappears.

You cannot contribute more than you earned. Leave at 0 if it comfortably exceeds the limit.

Your plan

What you plan to put in each year.

Projection. Depends on the future. Useful for planning, never a promise. Figures are for tax year 2026.

How this calculator works

Two questions, answered in order. First, how much are you allowed to contribute? The limit is the lesser of the annual cap and your earned income, reduced by the modified-AGI phase-out for your filing status.

The phase-out is a straight-line reduction across the published range, but with two details that matter at the top of the range: the reduced limit is rounded up to the nearest $10, and there is a $200 floor for anyone not entirely phased out. Both come from the statute and both are commonly skipped.

Second, what could it grow to? A monthly simulation to your retirement age at the return you assume, shown in both nominal and today’s dollars.

The point of a Roth is that qualified withdrawals are tax-free, so unlike a traditional account the projected balance is what you actually get to spend.

The formula

Exactly what happens to your numbers, step by step.

  1. The phase-out

    if MAGI ≥ phase-out end:    limit = 0
if MAGI > phase-out start:  reduction = cap × (MAGI − start) ÷ (end − start)
                            limit = max(200, roundUpTo10(cap − reduction))

  2. Earned income cap

    limit = min(limit, earned income)

    You cannot contribute more to an IRA than you earned.

  3. Growth

    balance = balance × (1 + return ÷ 12) + contribution ÷ 12, each month

A worked example

A 30-year-old single filer with $80,000 of income, contributing the full limit until 65 at a 7% return.

What you enter

Age now / retire
30 / 65
Filing status
Single
Modified AGI
$80,000
Annual contribution
The full limit
Return
7%

The working

Base limit
$7,500
Phase-out applies?
No — well below the range
Years contributing
35
Total contributed
$262,500
Projected balance
≈ $1.1 million

About $1.1 million at 65, all of it tax-free to withdraw

Roughly $840,000 of that is growth. In a taxable account a large share of that growth would be taxed along the way; in a Roth, qualified withdrawals are not taxed at all.

Assumptions

Every result here rests on these. Change your inputs and the result changes with them.

  • Contribution limits and phase-out ranges are the published IRS figures for the tax year shown.
  • You contribute the same amount every year until retirement. Limits are indexed and usually rise, so this is conservative.
  • One constant rate of return.
  • Withdrawals are qualified — you are over 59½ and the account has been open five years.

What this cannot tell you

  • It does not model the backdoor Roth strategy for people above the income limit.
  • It does not model conversions from a traditional IRA, or the tax consequences of doing so.
  • The five-year rule and early-withdrawal penalties are not enforced in the projection.

Questions people ask

What is the Roth IRA contribution limit?

For 2026 it is $7,500, or $8,600 if you are 50 or older. Those are IRS figures and they are indexed for inflation, so they change most years.

What happens if I earn too much?

Your limit shrinks across the phase-out range and reaches zero above it. Above the range, direct Roth contributions are not permitted — though a traditional IRA contribution followed by a conversion is a widely used alternative worth discussing with a tax professional.

Roth or traditional?

Broadly, a Roth is better if you expect to be in a higher tax bracket in retirement than you are now, and a traditional account is better if you expect the opposite. Many people hold both to hedge, since nobody knows future tax rates.

Can I withdraw my contributions early?

Your own contributions can be withdrawn at any time without tax or penalty, because you already paid tax on them. Earnings are different and generally require you to be 59½ with a five-year-old account.

Related calculators

Sources and review

Sources

Methodology version 1.0.0 · Last reviewed · Tax year 2026