Roth IRA Calculator

How a Roth IRA works

You pay into a Roth IRA with money that has already been taxed, so you get no deduction now. In return, the investments grow without yearly tax, and qualified withdrawals in retirement, including all the growth, are tax-free. That makes the balance this calculator shows worth more than the same balance in a traditional IRA or 401(k), where withdrawals are taxed as income.

A withdrawal is qualified, and so tax-free, when at least five years have passed since the start of the first tax year you contributed to a Roth IRA, and you are 59½ or older (or the withdrawal is due to disability, goes to your beneficiary after your death, or is up to $10,000 for a first home). Withdrawals come out of your regular contributions first, and those are not taxed, since you already paid tax on that money.

2026 Roth IRA contribution limits

For 2026 you can contribute up to $7,500 across all your IRAs, traditional and Roth combined, up from $7,000 in 2025. From age 50 you can add a $1,100 catch-up, for $8,600 in total. You also can't contribute more than your taxable compensation for the year.

How much you can put into a Roth IRA depends on your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). For 2026 the allowed contribution phases out between $153,000 and $168,000 for single filers and heads of household, and between $242,000 and $252,000 for married couples filing jointly. For married filing separately (if you lived with your spouse during the year), the range is $0 to $10,000. Below the range you can contribute the full amount; within it, a reduced amount; above it, nothing.

This calculator doesn't check your income against these ranges. If your income falls within or above them, enter the reduced amount the IRS worksheet allows, or zero.

Getting the most from a Roth IRA

Time is the biggest advantage. Because growth is never taxed, the earlier a dollar goes in, the more tax-free growth it can collect. Contributing at the start of each year rather than waiting until the tax deadline gives each contribution an extra year in the market; in the example below that adds about $72,600 by 65.

A Roth IRA is an account, not an investment. The return depends entirely on what you hold inside it, whether index funds, bonds or cash, so check that your contributions are actually invested rather than sitting uninvested in the account's cash option.

The formula

• C = your annual contribution, capped at $7,500 (under 50) or $8,600 (50 and over) for 2026
• r = expected annual return

Example

1. You are 30 with $10,000 in a Roth IRA, contribute the 2026 maximum of $7,500 at the end of each year, and expect a 7% return until you retire at 65.
2. Your existing $10,000 grows to 10,000 × 1.07^35 = $106,766.
3. From age 50 the limit rises to $8,600, but you keep contributing $7,500, so your 35 contributions total $262,500.
4. Balance at 65: $1,143,542, all of it tax-free to withdraw. That is $871,042 of growth on top of your $10,000 and $262,500 of contributions.
5. Contributing at the start of each year instead would give $1,216,117.

Frequently asked questions