Maxed Out Your 401(k)? The After-Tax Opportunity Qualcomm Employees Often Overlook

Correction, 29 August 2026. This post originally headlined a figure of $47,500 and described it as the additional amount a Qualcomm employee could contribute. That arithmetic assumes the employer contributes nothing. Company matching counts toward the same annual limit, so for an employee actually receiving the match the figure is lower. The numbers below have been corrected and the assumption is now stated. The correction is explained in full on our Qualcomm 401(k) page.

For many Qualcomm engineers and professionals in San Diego, reaching the annual 401(k) limit of $24,500 feels like the finish line. You’ve checked the box, captured the company match, and assumed your tax-advantaged savings were capped for the year.

The ceiling is higher than the deferral limit. But the number is smaller than the one usually quoted, and the difference is the match.

The “Hidden” Capacity in Your Plan

The IRS allows a total contribution limit of $72,000 for 2026, the annual additions limit, which counts your deferrals, your employer’s contributions, and any after-tax contributions together. If you defer $24,500 and stop, there is room left underneath it.

How much room depends on what your employer puts in:

With no employer contribution: $72,000 − $24,500 = $47,500. This is the figure that circulates, and it is correct only under that assumption.
With Qualcomm’s match at the full deferral: $72,000 − $24,500 − $6,125 = $41,375. Employer contributions occupy the same ceiling, so the match reduces the after-tax room dollar for dollar.

The $6,125 is what Qualcomm’s tiered match is worth at a $24,500 deferral. That formula, and why the effective match rate is 25% rather than the headline 100%, is worked through on our Qualcomm 401(k) page.

The Catch-Up Correction, Which Runs the Other Way

One point people more often get wrong to their own cost: catch-up contributions are not annual additions and do not consume that headroom. They stack on top. Someone 50 or older does not lose after-tax room by making catch-ups, the 2026 ceiling becomes $80,000, or $83,250 for ages 60 to 63.

One Thing to Confirm Before Planning Around Any of This

All of the above assumes your plan permits after-tax (non-Roth) contributions in the first place. Not every plan does, and we have not been able to confirm from public sources that the Qualcomm plan does. There is no public plan document to check, Qualcomm has never filed a Form 11-K, and the 2026 proxy describes the match as applying to “Pretax and Roth” contributions without mentioning an after-tax bucket.

Your Fidelity NetBenefits contribution-elections page would show an after-tax election line if one exists. That answers it in about thirty seconds, and it is worth answering before treating this as a strategy rather than a possibility.

One further constraint the arithmetic will not show: after-tax contributions are subject to ACP nondiscrimination testing, and in a plan with heavy highly-compensated participation they can be refunded after year end. That is the most common real-world failure of an otherwise sound plan.

Why Precision Matters in 2026

With the SECURE 2.0 Act changes now in effect, the rules for high earners have become more rigid. If your 2025 Social Security wages from Qualcomm exceeded $150,000, expect your 2026 catch-up contributions to be Roth-only.

For Qualcomm employees, where RSUs and high salaries often push professionals into the top tax brackets, contribution sequencing is worth getting right rather than guessing at.

Are You Optimizing Your “Golden Triangle”?

Your 401(k) is only one side of your financial triangle. When you layer in RSU vesting schedules and San Diego’s tax landscape, the strategy becomes more nuanced.

The question isn’t whether you can contribute more; it’s whether the extra dollars are working efficiently, and whether the plan actually offers the mechanism at all.

Take the Next Step

To see how the match, the deferral limit and the after-tax ceiling interact on your own numbers, visit our Qualcomm Wealth Strategy page and schedule a complimentary consultation.

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Contact Us Based in San Diego. Working with clients nationwide. Call (858) 384-3533 or email BStevens@BAS-Financial.com