Know your limits
Below are the 2021 IRS limits and additional information to keep you informed. The Elective Deferral and Catch-up limits are unchanged from 2020.
Select an option and take a look.
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What it means
All ages
This limit applies to the combined total of traditional and Roth contributions. For uniformed services members, this does not apply to traditional contributions from combat-zone pay.
What to know
Contributing from your pay before taxes allows your money to grow tax-deferred until you withdraw it. If you make Roth (after-tax) contributions, those contributions could be “qualified” and tax free at retirement. Knowing this limit helps you decide how much to put away each year.
Additionally, this limit does not include matching contributions that you receive from your agency or service, so you’re actually saving more.
What to do
If you’re not maxing out your contributions, consider increasing your contribution amount each chance you get to help reach your retirement savings goals. You might be surprised how big of a difference a small increase can make.
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What it means
Age 50 and over
At any time beginning in the year you turn 50, you have the opportunity to make additional contributions above the IRS’ elective deferral limit. These “catch-up contributions” provide a chance to put away extra money for retirement, even if you’re not behind.
What to know
Catch-up contributions are made on top of your regular employee contributions; however, they do not receive any matching. To be eligible to make these special contributions, you must be on track to meet the IRS elective deferral limit. They are separate from the elective deferral and annual addition limits.
You must make a new catch-up contribution election each calendar year—they do not restart automatically.What to do
Whether you’re trying to boost the retirement savings you already have or you’ve recently started saving, consider making catch-up contributions each year to save more.
You’ll thank yourself later.
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What it means
All Ages
The annual addition limit is the total amount of all the contributions you make in a calendar year. This limit is per employer and includes money from all sources: employee contributions (tax-deferred, after-tax, and tax-exempt), Agency/Service Automatic (1%) Contributions, and Agency/Service Matching Contributions. It does not include catch-up contributions.
What to know
The annual addition limit affects mostly members of the uniformed services who can exceed the annual elective deferral limit. The excess contributions go into the traditional portion of your account from tax-exempt pay earned in a combat zone.
What to do
Even if you don’t reach the annual addition limit, keep it in mind when deciding how much you’ll contribute to your TSP account to avoid penalties.
Are you about to max out? Be careful not to exceed the contribution limits before December 31 if you’re eligible for matching. If you do, we won’t be able to process any more of your contributions for the remainder of the year, which means you’ll miss out on matching contributions.
Grab your latest Leave and Earnings Statement and check out our “How much can I contribute?” calculator.