Retirement on the Horizon? Tips for Retirement Catch-Up Saving After 50

February 6, 2019 — Why should you know about catch-up retirement accounts? They can be a good strategy if you haven't saved quite as much as you want to have in retirement. This may be an excellent time to review these accounts as the annual contribution limits have recently been increased by the IRS.

Doing the math

You would probably need in excess of $1.5 million.

The earlier you start saving the better because of compounding interest. If you were currently age 50 and had started saving 15% of your income from age 40, and had saved $200,000 so far, and you kept investing at the same rate, it could grow to something like $950,000 by retirement age.

That seems like a pretty good amount, but it might only replace 65% of your income. That’s why it’s important that you are able to contribute more when you are nearer to retirement to make up for it.

You can try a retirement calculator where you plug in your own numbers by clicking here.

How does it work?

Here are some guidelines for the amounts you can contribute pretax to a retirement savings account once you turn 50:

• Elective deferrals are not counted as part of a catch-up contribution until they exceed $19,000 in a year (for 2019);
• SIMPLE IRAs or SIMPLE 401ks allow catchup contributions of $3,000 per year—however, salary reduction contributions to a SIMPLE IRA plan aren’t treated as catch-ups until they exceed $13,000 (for 2019).
• If you’ve worked at least 15 years for a public school system, hospital, home health service agency, health and welfare service agency, church, or convention or association of churches (or associated organization), you may be eligible to make even more contributions;
• Traditional or Roth IRA catch-up contributions can be made for $1,000—to be submitted prior to the due date of your tax returns (not including extensions).

Who can utilize this, and what can they do?

Your ability to participate in catch-up contributions can be impacted by things like your savings to date, spousal employment and benefit situation, age, and how much you are contributing currently to your 401k or other employer-backed retirement plans.

Luckily, you don’t have to go about figuring all of this out alone. There are many professionals who can assist you in navigating the choices available to you in your situation.