As Kiplinger has reported, workers ages 60 to 63 can contribute significantly more above the standard catch-up limits — up to $11,250 in 2025. The IRS notes that the grace period is designed to reduce administrative burdens and give participants and employers more time to correct errors. agency problem Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more – straight to your e-mail. For the other function, the phrasal verb, you do not need to put a hyphen, but you do need to write catch up as two words. The second way you can write catch up is without a hyphen, in which case it is a phrasal verb that means to reach someone or something ahead of you or to become updated on events or news. Those aged 60 to 63 may contribute an extra $3,750, bringing the year’s total allowable 401(k) contribution to $34,750.

Catch Up or Catch-Up or Catchup?

• Initially, that change was slated to start with contributions made in 2024.
• A slightly different meaning of the noun catch-up is when you say you are playing catch-up.
• The IRS recently indicated that the rules will apply to most plans beginning in the 2027 tax year.

Even though there are a lot of rules concerning how to use catch up and catch-up, we hope that all your doubts about the grammar rules have now disappeared. The hyphenated version catch-up is either a compound adjective or a compound noun. The first is with the hyphen, in which case catch-up is an adjective modifying a noun, or it is a noun. “When you pull those funds out tax-free, you’ll love it. It’ll be delayed gratification instead of instant gratification.”

The Verb Form: Catch Up

New IRS rules tied to the SECURE 2.0 Act, passed a few years ago, now require certain higher earners to make those catch-up contributions exclusively on a Roth basis. That means contributions are made with after-tax dollars instead of pre-tax, but with tax-free withdrawals in retirement. The following examples show the difference between the adjective and noun word forms. For instance, in the first sentence, catch-up describes the style of call, i.e., a call to catch up on events. Since Roth 401(k) contributions are made after-tax, there’s no upfront tax deduction for the money set aside for retirement.

The Adjective/Noun Form: Catch-Up

“Maybe this is bad, but maybe not,” Isaac Bradley, director of financial planning at HB Wealth, told USA TODAY. You need to put a hyphen for two of those functions, the noun and the adjective. During “go-go” years, people are still healthy and want to travel, celebrate and check off bucket list items, so they may take larger withdrawals, Jones said. “No-go” years may see withdrawals grow again with required minimum distributions (RMDs), higher health care costs or a “can’t take it with you” attitude, he said. How much you saved in traditional IRAs and 401(k)s, withdrawals, and Social Security can set off a “ticking tax bomb,” they said.

Catchup

We can refer to the AP Stylebook when we want to learn more about hyphen rules. According to AP Style, hyphens link multiple words together when they are used to modify the same noun. The IRS recently indicated that the rules will apply to most plans beginning in the 2027 tax year.

New IRS Start Date for Mandatory Roth Catch-Up Contributions

• Contributions made to a traditional 401(k) reduce the amount of income reported on your current tax return.
• Adhering to these guidelines ensures linguistic accuracy and effective expression, fostering seamless communication across various contexts.
• Employ Catch-Up with a hyphen when serving as an adjective or noun.
• The change-up may force older savers to take a fresh look at their tax situation, now and in the future, experts said.
• Consistency in application ensures clarity and precision in both written and spoken language.

It’s the first mandatory Roth provision ever added to the tax code. While it is appropriate to write it as two words or as a hyphen form, the one-word variation does not work in any case. We need to make sure there is a key difference between “catch” and “up” when writing them. According to Google Ngram Viewer, “catch up” is the most popular choice of the three. This shows that you are more likely to come across the phrasal verb in English than any other variation.

As the senior tax editor at Kiplinger.com, Kelley R. Taylor simplifies federal and state tax information, news, and developments to help empower readers. Kelley has over two decades of experience advising on and covering education, law, finance, and tax as a corporate attorney and business journalist. As always, consult a tax or financial professional to determine how these and other tax changes might impact your retirement savings strategy. In addition, the IRS confirmed the “super catch-up” provision under the SECURE 2.0 Act, effective beginning with the current 2025 tax year. Under SECURE 2.0, if you’re at least age 50 and earned $145,000 or more in the previous year, you can make catch-up contributions to your employer-sponsored 401(k) account.

So, your individual income must exceed $145,000 at one employer before you must make catch-up contributions to the Roth plan. If you earn more than $145,000, but at multiple employers, the pre-tax catch-up contributions will still be available. And since the limits are based on your prior-year income for the employer, new employees might avoid the Roth requirement on catch-up contributions in the first year. Contributions made to a traditional 401(k) reduce the amount of income reported on your current tax return. If your salary is $200,000 and you contribute $20,000 to a traditional 401(k), your taxable salary would be $180,000. If your top federal tax rate is 24% and your state’s tax rate is 4%, every dollar contributed to your 401(k) would save you $.28.

If you fall into this category, take the time between now and the end of next year to understand how the new rules will affect you. The IRS final rules also clarify other questions, like how employers determine if an employee’s income exceeds the $145,000 threshold. If employers offer a Roth and traditional 401(k) in 2026, only employees who earned less than $145,000 the prior year at their current company can choose where to put their money. Those above the wage threshold must contribute their catch-up contributions to the Roth 401(k).

This article embarks on a journey to explore the various forms of this term as a noun, adjective, and verb. In 2025, the annual limit for 401(k) contributions is $23,500 for anyone under the age of 50. If you are over 50, the limits are higher, allowing you to make additional contributions, called catch-up contributions. Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger’s advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more.

If the stock market or the value of your portfolio soars, tax rates may not bother you at all in the end, Conners said. If the company doesn’t offer a Roth 401(k), those high earners can’t make any catch-up contributions. You may also want to reevaluate your investments inside your 401(k).

Currently, you have the flexibility to decide if you want contributions to go to a traditional or Roth 401(k). If your employer offers a Roth 401(k), you can split your contributions in any proportion between the two types of plans. If you’re an employee age 50 and older, you can continue making catch-up contributions to your retirement accounts for now. However, once the rules are fully implemented (or sooner in some cases), high earners will need to make Roth-only catch-up contributions. However, some might note that the catch-up rule technically applies as of January 1, 2026. But the 2027 date essentially gives employers and plans a grace period (of sorts) as they work in good faith to ensure their plans fully comply with the new rules.