If you are 55 or over, you need to know the term “catch up contribution.” It sounds straightforward, but once you start thinking about how it works for two people in the same household, the details get confusing fast. Let’s break it down in a way that feels less like tax code and more like a real conversation.
Catch up contributions are simply extra amounts, above the annual contribution limits, that people age 55 or older can add to certain retirement or health accounts. The idea is to give you some extra room to save after the kids are grown, the mortgage is calmer, or your financial picture has changed.
The tricky part is this. Catch up contributions are always tied to each person, not to the household as a whole. Even if you file taxes jointly, you do not share one big pot for these extra contributions. Think of it like two seats on an airplane. Each ticket gets its own seat. You cannot slide over and take your partner’s seat, even if you love them very much.
If you and your spouse both want to make catch up contributions, you each need your own eligible account. If both of you want to add an extra one thousand dollars for the year, that means you are adding a total of two thousand dollars across two separate accounts. One cannot toss their extra amount into the other person’s bucket. The IRS looks at this on a per person basis.
This is especially important with Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs. An HSA is that special account that pairs with a high deductible health plan and lets you save ahead for future medical costs. The catch up rule for HSAs starts at age 55. To get that extra $1,000, each spouse needs their own HSA. A joint HSA does not exist. One spouse cannot place their catch up dollars into the other spouse’s HSA, even if the family is on one health plan.
If this all feels a little fussy, that is completely normal. The good news is that once you know the basic rule, the rest becomes simpler. Catch up contributions are individual. They travel with the person, not the household.
If you are not sure whether you or your spouse are eligible, or if you want help thinking through which accounts make the most sense to fund first, feel free to reach out. These small details matter and they really can make a difference in how comfortable you feel later on.
