Your Retirement Account Map

Four accounts, $65,250 of room — most physicians fill one

Your first payroll portal asks a single question: what percent of salary do you want to defer? Most physicians type a number that feels responsible, watch it reach the $24,500 federal deferral cap, and consider the job done. At a typical academic medical center, that number is barely a third of the map. In 2026, a university employer commonly offers a 403(b) ($24,500 of your own deferrals), a separate 457(b) with its own additional $24,500, an HSA worth up to $8,750 for family coverage, and — through the backdoor — a $7,500 Roth IRA. That is $65,250 of personal tax-advantaged space before counting a single dollar of employer match. The pre-tax room beyond the 403(b) alone — $33,250 across the 457(b) and HSA — deferred at a 32 percent marginal rate, keeps roughly $10,600 of this year's federal tax in your accounts instead of the Treasury's. This module draws the map first — which accounts exist and which limit each one answers to — and then gives you the fill order, because the order you fund them changes what every dollar is worth.

The section 402(g) elective deferral limit

The 2026 cap of $24,500 on what you personally defer from salary into 401(k) and 403(b) plans — one limit per person across all employers combined (IRS Notice 2025-67).

The four account types split into two buckets. Workplace plans — 401(k) and 403(b) — hold both your money and your employer's, and each bucket answers to a different limit. Your own salary deferrals answer to section 402(g): $24,500 in 2026 (IRS Notice 2025-67). Total additions to the plan — your deferrals plus employer match plus any after-tax contributions — answer to section 415(c): $72,000 per employer in 2026. A governmental 457(b) sits outside both: section 457(e)(15) gives it its own separate $24,500. IRAs ($7,500) and HSAs ($4,400 single, $8,750 family) sit outside the workplace system entirely. Physicians aged 50 and over add an $8,000 catch-up to workplace deferrals ($11,250 in the years they turn 60 through 63) and $1,100 to the IRA. One person, several limits — and the match never touches your $24,500.

Why it matters: If you believe there is one limit, you stop at $24,500 and never ask what else exists. The 402(g) versus 415(c) distinction is why an employer match does not shrink your deferral room, why after-tax contributions can exist at all, and why a 457(b) — governed by neither — can double your deferrals at the same job.

The fill order: why the match beats the HSA beats the unmatched dollar

Every dollar you invest goes somewhere, so rank the destinations by what each one pays you per dollar. The match pays an immediate, guaranteed return no market matches. The HSA is the only account that is never taxed when used correctly. Everything below them is ranked by how much tax each rung removes. The arithmetic fills from the top and moves down only when a rung is full.

One academic job hides $65,250 of tax-advantaged space

You are a 38-year-old academic hospitalist earning $260,000 at a university hospital that offers a 403(b) with a 4 percent dollar-for-dollar match, a governmental 457(b), and a qualified high-deductible health plan covering your family.

Bottom line: Filling the map instead of stopping at $24,500 shelters an additional $40,750 of your own money — the $33,250 pre-tax portion alone keeps roughly $10,600 of federal tax this year at a 32 percent marginal rate, before any state tax savings.

Does the match count against your $24,500?

The single most common misreading of the map is treating the employer match as part of your own deferral limit. Test yourself before the next lesson.

Map your own plan before your next pay period

The map only pays when you overlay it on your actual employer documents. Every item below comes from paperwork you already have access to — the summary plan description, the benefits portal, and one email to your benefits office.

• Download the summary plan description for every retirement plan your employer offers, and confirm which of the four account types exist at your job — This week
• Confirm the match formula and the vesting schedule in writing, and put your full-vesting date on your calendar — This week
• Ask your benefits office whether a 457(b) exists and whether it is governmental or non-governmental — the non-governmental kind remains the employer's asset and deserves separate scrutiny before you fund it — This week
• Verify HSA eligibility: confirm your health plan is a qualified HDHP and that payroll HSA contributions are offered, since payroll contributions also avoid FICA — Before open enrollment
• Look up the deferral percentage your plan requires to capture the full match, and how far your current election sits from the $24,500 limit — Before your next pay period
• Calendar a January review — the IRS adjusts these limits each fall for the coming year — Each January

The map in four sentences

• Your $24,500 section 402(g) limit and the $72,000 section 415(c) limit answer different questions: what you defer versus what everyone contributes in total per employer.
• A governmental 457(b) carries its own separate $24,500 under section 457(e)(15), stacking on top of your 403(b) rather than sharing its limit.
• The fill order is match, then HSA, then remaining deferrals, then backdoor Roth IRA, then taxable — each rung ranked by what it pays per dollar.
• At a typical academic job the full 2026 map holds $65,250 of personal tax-advantaged space, before the employer match adds more under section 415(c).

Do this next: Before your next pay period, pull your summary plan description and write down four facts: your match formula, your vesting date, whether a 457(b) exists and what kind, and whether your health plan qualifies you for an HSA.