Direct answer: The 2026 TSP contribution limit is $24,500 for traditional and Roth combined. If you turn 50 or older in 2026 you can add $8,000 in catch-up ($11,250 if you turn 60 to 63). FERS and eligible BRS members get up to 5% of basic pay from the agency or service on top. The IRS hasn't announced 2027 limits yet.
Quick Q&AWhat is the TSP contribution limit for 2026?
$24,500 of your own money, traditional and Roth combined (up from $23,500 in 2025). Matching and automatic 1% contributions don't count toward it. Total contributions from all sources (your money plus agency or service contributions, not counting catch-up) can't top $72,000 (IRS; TSP).
What is the TSP catch-up limit for 2026?
$8,000 if you turn 50 or older in 2026, or $11,250 if you turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 (born 1963-1966). It goes back to $8,000 the year you turn 64. Contributions past $24,500 spill into catch-up automatically; there's no separate election (TSP).
What is the TSP contribution limit for 2027?
Not announced yet: through Oct. 16, 2026, the IRS hadn't released 2027 retirement-plan limits; it usually does in late October or November. Marsh (Mercer), a private firm, projects $25,500, $8,500 catch-up and $11,750 at ages 60-63. That's an estimate, not a limit.
How much does the TSP match?
For FERS and eligible BRS members: an automatic 1% of basic pay every pay period, plus a match on the first 5% you put in each pay period: the first 3% dollar-for-dollar and the next 2% at 50 cents on the dollar. Put in 5% and you get 5% total from your agency or service (TSPBK08).
When does the BRS TSP match start and stop?
The automatic 1% starts 60 days after you enter service; matching starts at 2 years and 1 day. Both end when you complete 26 years of service (5 U.S.C. 8440e). You're vested in the automatic 1% after 2 years; your own money and matching are always yours (TSPBK08).
Should I front-load my TSP?
Not if you get matching. Matching is figured each pay period, so if you hit the limit early your contributions stop and so does the match for the rest of the year. Spread contributions so you reach the limit on your last paycheck; TSP's own booklet says the same (TSPBK08).
Do TSP catch-up contributions have to be Roth in 2026?
Only if your 2025 wages were over $150,000: then every catch-up dollar must be Roth, starting Jan. 1, 2026 (SECURE 2.0 section 603). The switch is automatic for most people. Combat-zone tax-exempt catch-up must be Roth regardless of income (TSP).
Put in at least 5% of basic pay every paycheck (that gets the full match if you’re FERS or BRS with 2+ years), and if you can, spread $24,500 evenly across the year so the match never stops. Turning 50+ in 2026? Add $8,000 ($11,250 at ages 60-63).
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Your roadmap
Check your election in your payroll system (myPay for military; Employee Express, LiteBlue, NFC EPP or GRB for most civilians).
At least 5% if you get matching. Below that you leave free money behind.
Maxing out? Use the calculator so you hit the limit on your last paycheck, not before.
Turning 64 in 2027? Lower your election in January (the catch-up limit drops).
Watch for 2027 limits (late October to November) before setting next year’s election.
TSP calculator: max out in 2026 without losing the match
TSP contribution limits 2026
Limit
2026
2025
2027 projected (Marsh/Mercer, not official)
Elective deferral limit (your traditional + Roth)
$24,500
$23,500
$25,500
Catch-up, if you turn 50+ in the year
$8,000
$7,500
$8,500
Higher catch-up, if you turn 60, 61, 62 or 63
$11,250
$11,250
$11,750
Annual additions (you + agency/service, not catch-up)
$72,000
$70,000
$75,000
Prior-year wages above which catch-up must be Roth
$150,000
$145,000
$155,000
Catch-up limit by birth year (2026)
Born in
You turn in 2026
Catch-up limit
Total you can put in
1962 or earlier
64 or older
$8,000
$32,500
1963 - 1966
60 - 63
$11,250
$35,750
1967 - 1976
50 - 59
$8,000
$32,500
1977 or later
49 or younger
$0
$24,500
The deferral limit covers traditional and Roth together, across all your TSP accounts (civilian and uniformed services) and any 401(k) or 403(b) you also have that year.
Not counted against it: agency/service automatic 1% and matching contributions, and (for uniformed services) traditional contributions from tax-exempt combat-zone pay.
The year you turn 64, the catch-up limit drops back to the regular amount: TSP says to lower your election at the start of that year so you don’t hit the limit early and lose matching.
IRS status (checked Oct. 17, 2026): no 2027 retirement-plan limits yet. The IRS’s October 2026 news releases (through IR-2026-124, Oct. 16) don’t include them, and its limits page still shows 2026. The 2026 limits came out Nov. 13, 2025 (IR-2025-111). TSP posts the new limits on tsp.gov once the IRS does.
Projection, not a limit: Marsh People and Investments (Mercer), using final September 2026 inflation data, projects $25,500 elective deferral, $8,500 catch-up, $11,750 at ages 60-63, $75,000 annual additions and a $155,000 Roth catch-up wage threshold for 2027.
If those hold, maxing out in 2027 would take about $980.77 a paycheck over 26 paychecks ($1,062.50 over 24). Wait for the IRS number before changing your election for January.
FERS civilians: automatic 1% from your first paycheck; matching on the first 5% you contribute each pay period. Vested in the 1% after 3 years for most (2 years for congressional and certain noncareer jobs). Your money and matching are always yours.
BRS (uniformed services): automatic 1% from 60 days of service; matching from 2 years and 1 day; both stop when you complete 26 years of service (5 U.S.C. 8440e). Vested in the 1% after 2 years of service.
CSRS and legacy (non-BRS) uniformed services: no automatic or matching contributions; you can still contribute up to the limits.
Auto-enrollment: FERS and BRS members who started on or after Oct. 1, 2020 are put in at 5% (BRS after 60 days). BRS members who stop during the year are re-enrolled at 5% on Jan. 1.
Worked example (2026 pay chart): an E-5 over 6 years earns $4,110.00 a month in basic pay. Putting in 5% ($205.50 a month) brings in another $205.50 from the service: $2,466 a year on top of the member’s own $2,466. Military pay chart 2026.
Matching is paid each pay period on what you put in that pay period. Hit the limit early and your contributions stop, so the match stops too; the automatic 1% keeps coming.
Example: $80,000 basic pay, 26 paychecks, 40% election = $1,230.77 a paycheck. You reach $24,500 in paycheck 20, then nothing goes in for 6 paychecks: about $738.46 of matching lost (4% x $3,076.92 x 6).
Instead: $24,500 ÷ 26 = $942.31 a paycheck, about 30.6% of $3,076.92. You max out on the last paycheck and keep every match dollar: $4,000 for the year (5% of $80,000).
Age 50+: past the deferral limit, contributions spill into catch-up automatically and still get matched up to 5% of pay, so you lose matching only when you hit the combined limit.
Changing jobs or services mid-year? The IRS says you generally add up your deferrals to all plans: count what you already put into any TSP, 401(k) or 403(b) in 2026.
Starting Jan. 1, 2026, if your 2025 wages were over $150,000, every catch-up dollar must go in as Roth (after-tax), whatever your election (SECURE 2.0 section 603). The threshold rises with inflation.
TSP says the switch is automatic for most people; some should check with their payroll office. If you don’t have a Roth TSP balance, the first Roth catch-up contribution opens one.
Don’t want Roth? Keep your total at or below $24,500. Wages of $150,000 or less in 2025: no change.
Uniformed services: combat-zone pay and bonuses
Traditional contributions from tax-exempt combat-zone pay don’t count toward the deferral limit, so deployed members can put in more, up to the $72,000 annual additions limit (your money plus the service’s, catch-up not included).
Roth contributions from tax-exempt pay do count toward the deferral limit. If you reach it with tax-exempt Roth, only tax-exempt traditional can go in for the rest of the year.
In a combat zone, catch-up must be Roth regardless of income, and catch-up can’t come from incentive, special or bonus pay.
BRS: after you reach the annual additions limit you can still make catch-up contributions, but they aren’t matched.
Have both a uniformed services and a civilian TSP account (e.g. Guard or Reserve plus a federal job)? One deferral limit covers both.
Facts and arithmetic only. VaultRubric isn’t the TSP, the IRS or your payroll office, and this isn’t tax or investment advice. We don’t pick funds. Your Leave and Earnings Statement and TSP account are the final numbers.
$24,500 of your own money, traditional and Roth combined (up from $23,500 in 2025). Matching and automatic 1% contributions don't count toward it. Total contributions from all sources (your money plus agency or service contributions, not counting catch-up) can't top $72,000 (IRS; TSP).
What is the TSP catch-up limit for 2026?
$8,000 if you turn 50 or older in 2026, or $11,250 if you turn 60, 61, 62 or 63 (born 1963-1966). It goes back to $8,000 the year you turn 64. Contributions past $24,500 spill into catch-up automatically; there's no separate election (TSP).
What is the TSP contribution limit for 2027?
Not announced yet: through Oct. 16, 2026, the IRS hadn't released 2027 retirement-plan limits; it usually does in late October or November. Marsh (Mercer), a private firm, projects $25,500, $8,500 catch-up and $11,750 at ages 60-63. That's an estimate, not a limit.
How much does the TSP match?
For FERS and eligible BRS members: an automatic 1% of basic pay every pay period, plus a match on the first 5% you put in each pay period: the first 3% dollar-for-dollar and the next 2% at 50 cents on the dollar. Put in 5% and you get 5% total from your agency or service (TSPBK08).
When does the BRS TSP match start and stop?
The automatic 1% starts 60 days after you enter service; matching starts at 2 years and 1 day. Both end when you complete 26 years of service (5 U.S.C. 8440e). You're vested in the automatic 1% after 2 years; your own money and matching are always yours (TSPBK08).
Should I front-load my TSP?
Not if you get matching. Matching is figured each pay period, so if you hit the limit early your contributions stop and so does the match for the rest of the year. Spread contributions so you reach the limit on your last paycheck; TSP's own booklet says the same (TSPBK08).
Do TSP catch-up contributions have to be Roth in 2026?
Only if your 2025 wages were over $150,000: then every catch-up dollar must be Roth, starting Jan. 1, 2026 (SECURE 2.0 section 603). The switch is automatic for most people. Combat-zone tax-exempt catch-up must be Roth regardless of income (TSP).
Estimates, not financial advice. Taxes, insurance, PMI and fees vary by lender, county and city; confirm with your lender, dealer and state agency before acting.
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