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Four-panel full-color educational finance comic. Panel 1: smiling IRS COLA calendar for 2026. Panel 2: defined benefit plan limit rising to $290,000. Panel 3: prior-year chalk marking $280,000 for 2025. Panel 4: clipboard sticky that ceilings are plan rules, not personalized advice.
Four panels: IRS COLA calendar 2026, defined benefit ceiling $290,000 jar, prior-year $280,000 chalk, ceilings-are-not-advice clipboard. Educational only. · Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: IRS.

Finance

2026 defined benefit plan limit rises to $290,000

What happened

The IRS Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) tables for retirement-plan dollar limitations list the defined benefit plan limit for 2026 as $290,000, up from $280,000 in 2025. That figure is the published annual benefit ceiling used when defined benefit plans apply IRC Section 415 limits — not a target, not a recommendation to accrue any amount, and not personalized tax or retirement advice. Educational finance only.

Ceilings, not a recommendation. No tickers. No “max this.” The comic is the COLA calendar, the $290,000 defined-benefit jar, the prior-year $280,000 chalk, and a sticky that says ceiling not advice. Color on the jars and the chalk. White gutters. Ignore any wrong prior-year figures that might appear inside artwork; the verified IRS line is $280,000 for 2025 and $290,000 for 2026.

Educational finance here labels published caps so a reader can find them on IRS.gov instead of on a slideshow. Prior days filed compensation and defined-contribution COLA lids. Today’s board is the defined benefit plan limit for plan-year 2026 math. Keep politics out. Keep the source URL on the page.

Why it matters

A defined benefit plan limit is a different animal from elective-deferral and catch-up lines filed earlier. Readers get $290,000 for 2026 (was $280,000 in 2025), framed as a ceiling for plan compliance — not advice. Bright teal and gold. White gutters. Stick to the IRS COLA page numbers and skip product pitches.

Conclusion

For 2026, the IRS prints a defined benefit plan limit of $290,000 (up from $280,000 in 2025) — a ceiling for plan rules, not a recommendation. Source: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/cola-increases-for-dollar-limitations-on-benefits-and-contributions

Source: IRS