Project tax-free Roth IRA growth and see how much you'll save in retirement taxes. Updated with 2026 contribution limits ($7,500) and income phase-out thresholds.
A Roth IRA calculator projects the tax-free balance you will have at retirement from your contributions, years invested and expected return. Because Roth contributions are made with after-tax money, qualified withdrawals in retirement — including all growth — are completely tax-free.
Tax-free growth projection with 2026 contribution limits
The Roth IRA growth calculator shows what tax-free compound growth looks like over 30+ years. Starting at age 30, contributing the 2026 maximum of $7,500 annually, and earning 7% return per year, you'd accumulate roughly $885,000 by age 65. Every dollar of that growth — potentially $600,000+ in investment gains — comes out completely tax-free in retirement. Compare that to the same money in a Traditional IRA: the balance looks identical while it grows, but at a 22% tax rate on withdrawals, you'd lose over $130,000 of that balance to the IRS when you start drawing income.
The Roth's tax-free withdrawal advantage compounds on top of itself, because you also keep what you would have paid in taxes invested and growing. Younger workers are ideal Roth candidates: they're often in lower tax brackets now (22% or below), so the tax cost of contributing is lower, while retirement decades away allows maximum tax-free compounding. Workers in their 50s with strong incomes should model both scenarios — the Roth still often wins if they expect to stay in the 22%+ bracket in retirement, especially given Roth's estate planning advantage of leaving tax-free money to heirs.
Every dollar earned inside a Roth IRA — dividends, capital gains, interest — compounds without any annual tax drag. Over 30 years at 7%, a $100,000 Roth balance grows to $761,000 with zero tax owed on the gain at withdrawal.
Contribution limit is $7,500/year for those under 50 and the same $7,500 for 50+ (the catch-up is included in the base limit for 2026). Contributions can be made until Tax Day (typically April 15) for the prior year.
Single filers earning $150,000–$165,000 and married filers earning $236,000–$246,000 face reduced Roth IRA contribution limits in 2026. Above those ranges, the backdoor Roth conversion remains a widely used alternative strategy.
Roth wins if your retirement tax rate is higher than your current rate. Traditional wins if your current rate is higher. When uncertain, splitting contributions between both accounts hedges against future tax rate changes effectively.
A Roth IRA is funded with after-tax dollars and grows completely tax-free, with qualified withdrawals never taxed. Three features distinguish it from a traditional IRA beyond the tax timing. There are no required minimum distributions during the owner's lifetime, so the money can compound untouched indefinitely. Contributions — though not earnings — can be withdrawn at any time without tax or penalty, which makes it a surprisingly flexible emergency reserve. And because the $7,000 limit is an after-tax limit, a maxed Roth shelters more real purchasing power than a maxed traditional account.
FV = PMT × [ ((1 + r)^n − 1) ÷ r ], all of it tax-free at withdrawal2026 limit: $7,000 (+$1,000 catch-up at 50)Income phase-out reduces the allowed contribution above a thresholdQualified withdrawal: age 59½ AND account open 5 yearswhere:
Assumptions: Contribution eligibility phases out at higher incomes. Withdrawing earnings before 59½ generally triggers tax plus a 10% penalty, though contributions may always be withdrawn freely.
Contribute the full limit annually and compare the outcome with a taxable account.
Result$661,226 — all of it tax-free
That comparison slightly flatters the Roth, because contributing $7,000 to a traditional IRA costs only $5,460 after a 22% deduction. Investing the $1,540 difference makes the two much closer — the genuine Roth advantages are the absent RMDs, the tax-free inheritance and the hedge against future rate rises.