Define the Two Questions Before Entering Numbers
A Roth IRA growth projection estimates how an existing balance and recurring after-tax deposits could compound through a selected age. A direct-contribution estimate asks how much may be contributed for one tax year under current income, compensation, and shared IRA limits. These are related but different questions.
Keep the projection schedule independent from the dated 2026 estimate. Future limits, income, and law can change. Record conversions, rollovers, withdrawals, and special repayments outside the regular-contribution schedule because they follow different rules.
Reconcile the 2026 Shared IRA and Compensation Limits
For 2026, regular contributions across traditional and Roth IRAs generally share a $7,500 limit, or $8,600 at age 50 or older. Eligible taxable compensation can create a lower ceiling. Contributions to other traditional or Roth IRAs reduce the amount left for the Roth IRA being checked.
Gather current account records before entering the other-IRA amount. Do not count a rollover or conversion as an ordinary regular contribution. If compensation, spouse rules, or a special repayment is material, follow the current Publication 590-A instructions rather than extending this planning screen.
Use Roth-Purpose Modified AGI for the Income Phase-Out
The 2026 phase-out is $153,000 to $168,000 for single and head-of-household filers and certain married-separate filers who lived apart, $242,000 to $252,000 for joint filers and qualifying surviving spouses, and $0 to $10,000 for married-separate filers who lived with a spouse.
Modified AGI for Roth IRA purposes is not automatically gross pay or ordinary AGI. Publication 590-A provides a worksheet with adjustments. Inside a phase-out range, the reduced-limit worksheet rounds a positive result up to the next $10 and applies a $200 minimum before other IRA and compensation constraints.
Translate Return, Fees, and Deposit Timing Into Monthly Mechanics
Convert the effective annual gross return into a monthly factor and convert the annual fee into a separate monthly retention factor. Apply deposits at their selected beginning or end of month. Increase the monthly amount only after a full contribution year has passed.
A no-fee comparison should preserve the same gross return and deposits. Its ending-balance difference includes direct charges and the return those charges could no longer earn. If the entered performance figure is already net of a fee, avoid subtracting that fee again.
Formula notes
Gross monthly factor = (1 + annual return)^(1 / 12)Monthly fee factor = (1 - annual fee rate)^(1 / 12)Fee drag = no-fee balance - modeled-fee balance
Separate Nominal Value From Purchasing Power and Uncertainty
The nominal balance is the future-dollar account value produced by the model. Dividing by cumulative inflation gives a today's-dollar comparison. That real-value figure does not change the nominal account statement and depends on an uncertain inflation assumption.
Use lower and higher return cases to expose sensitivity, not to imply forecast bounds. The delay case holds the starting balance constant and postpones deposits, revealing both missing contributions and lost compounding. Change one assumption at a time when diagnosing the result.
Formula notes
Today's-dollar value = nominal ending balance / (1 + inflation)^years
Read the Five-Year Checkpoint as a Limited Screen
Publication 590-B states that the ordinary qualified-distribution path requires the five-year period beginning with the first Roth IRA contribution tax year and a distribution on or after age 59 1/2. Disability, death, and qualifying first-home circumstances can create other paths.
Conversion amounts can have separate five-year periods for additional-tax purposes. The calculator checks only the entered first Roth contribution year and projection age. It does not classify a withdrawal, test exceptions, or reconstruct conversion and distribution history.
Preserve Contribution, Conversion, and Distribution Records
Nonqualified Roth IRA distributions can apply ordering rules to regular contributions, conversion amounts, and earnings. A single current balance does not reveal that history. Keep Forms 5498 and 1099-R, tax returns, conversion records, contribution years, and prior distribution documentation.
Roth IRA owners do not have lifetime RMDs under current IRS rules, but beneficiary distribution rules still apply. An original-owner accumulation model should stop before inherited-account assumptions, estate planning, or a sustainable withdrawal strategy are inferred.
Audit and Refresh the Roth IRA Scenario
Record the valuation date, starting balance source, monthly transfer timing, gross-versus-net return basis, all-in ongoing fees, inflation, target, and current-year tax inputs. Confirm that the final yearly row reconciles to the headline balance and compare it with the no-fee and delayed-start cases.
Recalculate after income, compensation, contributions, fees, investments, law, or timing changes. A correct formula cannot make uncertain assumptions certain, and a current-year eligibility estimate cannot replace the applicable IRS worksheet or personal tax advice.
Frequently asked questions
How much can I contribute to a Roth IRA in 2026?
For 2026, the general regular IRA limit is $7,500, or $8,600 at age 50 or older, across traditional and Roth IRAs combined. The limit can be lower because of taxable compensation, Roth modified AGI, filing status, and contributions to other IRAs.
What are the 2026 Roth IRA income limits?
For 2026, the phase-out range is $153,000 to $168,000 for single or head-of-household filers and certain married-separate filers who lived apart all year, $242,000 to $252,000 for joint filers and qualifying surviving spouses, and $0 to $10,000 for married-separate filers who lived with a spouse during the year.
Does this Roth IRA calculator determine whether I am eligible?
It estimates direct-contribution room from the facts entered, but it cannot verify the modified AGI worksheet, compensation classification, spouse rules, prior excess amounts, special repayments, contribution dates, or complete account history. Treat it as a dated screen and confirm the current IRS worksheet.
Are Roth IRA and traditional IRA contribution limits separate?
No. Regular contributions generally share one annual limit across all traditional and Roth IRAs owned by the person. The calculator subtracts the other IRA contributions entered when estimating 2026 room.
Are Roth IRA contributions tax-deductible?
No. Regular Roth IRA contributions are generally made with after-tax money and are not deductible. Their potential benefit is qualified-distribution treatment when applicable requirements are met.
How does the calculator phase out a Roth IRA contribution?
Within the applicable 2026 MAGI range, it follows the reduced-limit worksheet pattern, rounds a positive reduced amount up to the next $10 with the $200 minimum rule, and then limits the result by taxable compensation and other regular IRA contributions.
Does a Roth IRA have required minimum distributions?
The IRS states that Roth IRA owners do not have lifetime RMDs. Beneficiaries can still be subject to distribution rules, which this original-owner accumulation projection does not model.
What is the Roth IRA five-year rule?
For the ordinary qualified-distribution path, Publication 590-B requires the distribution to occur after the five-year period beginning with the first Roth IRA contribution tax year and after age 59 1/2. Other qualifying conditions and separate conversion five-year periods can apply.
References
These sources support the method or guidance used for Roth IRA Calculator. Verify time-sensitive rules at the source.
Try the calculator
Open Roth IRA Calculator, enter your scenario, and compare its supporting rows with this guide's method and checks.