<\/p>\n
October 2026 began with three year-end deadlines still open, each with its own timeline and consequences for delaying.<\/p>\n
The remaining weeks of 2026 offer a window to adjust 401(k) contributions, evaluate a Roth conversion by December 31, and review Medicare coverage before the December 7 enrollment deadline.<\/p>\n
All three have a tax or coverage outcome that locks in permanently once the calendar year turns.<\/p>\n
Also Read: Retirees may be ignoring a Medicare blind spot before 2027<\/p>\n
401(k) catch-up contributions erode with every uncorrected paycheck<\/p>\n
The standard employee deferral cap for 2026 is $24,500, and workers 50 and older can add an extra $8,000 for a combined ceiling of $32,500. Workers aged 60 to 63 qualify for a larger catch-up of $11,250, lifting their total limit to $35,750, Mercer Advisors noted in its September 2026 analysis.<\/p>\n
Contributions flow only through payroll, and a deferral change takes one full pay cycle to process. Every paycheck at the old rate forces the remaining checks to absorb a larger share of the gap.<\/p>\n
Vic Conrad, financial adviser and founder of Pinnacle Financial Strategies, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that catch-ups for high earners must be designated as Roth contributions, leading to a direct tax hit for those high earners.<\/p>\n
<strong>People who fall in that category need to financially be prepared for a larger tax bill. Simply put, all else being equal, you'll have more taxable income as a result of the change,<\/strong><\/p>\n
Workers 50 and older whose Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) wages exceeded $150,000 in 2025 face a SECURE 2.0 mandate: all catch-up contributions must now route into a Roth 401(k). <\/p>\n
The rule took effect January 1, 2026, Mercer Advisors reported, and workers below that threshold can still choose a pre-tax 401(k) or Roth.<\/p>\n
SECURE 2.0 strips catch-up access from plans without a Roth option<\/p>\n
The Roth catch-up provision for high earners has caught many workers off guard in their employer-sponsored retirement plans.<\/p>\n
A high earner whose employer does not offer a designated Roth account loses the 2026 catch-up opportunity, according to Mercer Advisors.<\/p>\n
Some employers have not yet amended their plans to include a Roth contribution feature, which leaves affected employees with no workaround. <\/p>\n
Workers in their peak earning years who assumed they could max out pretax catch-ups may discover that their plan’s current structure blocks them.<\/p>\n
More Retirement:<\/p>\n
Retirement Tech in 2026: AI, Operational Efficiency, and Better Participant Experience<\/p>\n
George Kamel, Rachel Cruze warn about a mortgage retirement trap<\/p>\n
Massachusetts retirement taxes explained: What retirees should know before moving or staying<\/p>\n
The 2025 Form W-2 shows eligibility in Box 3, which reports the Social Security wages the IRS allows employers to use when applying the Roth catch-up mandate.<\/p>\n
Mercer Advisors recommended logging into the plan portal this week to confirm year-to-date deferrals and verify whether catch-up dollars are routing to the correct account.<\/p>\n
SECURE 2.0 could leave high earners unable to make catch-up contributions if their employer’s retirement plan lacks a Roth option.<\/p>\n
AzmanL \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Roth conversions face a hard December 31 cutoff<\/p>\n
A Roth conversion moves pre-tax retirement assets into a Roth account, and the converted amount counts as ordinary taxable income for the year of transfer. <\/p>\n
The conversion deadline for the 2026 tax year is December 31, with no extension available and no grace period from the IRS, Mercer Advisors confirmed.<\/p>\n
With three-quarters of this year’s income data now on the books, most workers can project full-year income with enough accuracy to size the conversion this month. <\/p>\n
The 2026 standard deduction shelters $32,200 for married couples filing jointly and $16,100 for single filers, which offers a starting point for gauging bracket headroom, the IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 showed.<\/p>\n
Medicare exposure adds a second reason to run the numbers early. <\/p>\n
A 2026 conversion affects your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), which determines your 2028 Medicare premiums under the two-year lookback rule, Mercer Advisors noted.<\/p>\n
Waiting until mid-December leaves almost no room to scale back when a late capital gain or year-end distribution arrives, Mercer Advisors cautioned.<\/p>\n
Medicare open enrollment closes on a fixed December 7 deadline<\/p>\n
Medicare’s annual enrollment period opens October 15 and closes December 7, 2026, giving beneficiaries a fixed 54-day window to compare plans for 2027, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).<\/p>\n
The CMS projected that the weighted-average monthly Medicare Advantage premium will drop 16.5%, from $14.37 in 2026 to $12 in 2027.<\/p>\n
Insurers must have sent enrollees an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) by September 30, 2026, outlining 2027 premium, benefit, and formulary changes, the CMS ANOC submission requirements showed.<\/p>\n
Kiplinger advised reviewing the ANOC before comparing plans on Medicare.gov, because coverage that worked in 2026 may cost more, or less, next year.<\/p>\n
Which year-end window near-retirees should tackle first<\/p>\n
Workers still on payroll should treat the 401(k) deferral correction as the most time-sensitive of the three deadlines, Mercer Advisors recommended in its year-end guidance. <\/p>\n
It is the only window that narrows with each uncorrected pay cycle, and a Roth conversion can still be sized accurately in November 2026.<\/p>\n
For near-retirees already off payroll, Mercer Advisors moved the Roth conversion to the top of the list, since its December 31, 2026, cutoff is the hardest of the three. <\/p>\n
Because Medicare uses your 2026 income to set Part B and Part D premiums for 2028, a Roth conversion made this year could affect those costs.<\/p>\n
Related: Fidelity’s data makes Suze Orman’s 401(k) warning hard to ignore<\/p>\n
#Americans #retirement #slowly #lose #windows<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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