One of the questions we get asked a lot is, I know the limit that the IRS puts on my 401k contributions for the year is $14000 (for a person under 50) (2005) but is this the limit I can get from one employer or is it the total amount I can get from all my employers? So if I had 5 jobs could I get a total of $70 000 5 x $14 000 in contributions?

The simple answer is $14 000 is the personal limit you have as an individual and there for the total from all your employers, so if you have more than one employer then between you all the total that can be added for each year is $14 000. If you do over pay into the plans you have, it is easy to do if you are running more than one plan with more than one employer making contributions, you can claim back the overpayments but the claim must be made by 15th March.

The part of the IRS guidelines that causes a lot of confusion with reference to these limits is this paragraph;