With all of the different age limits and contribution limits on the various retirement accounts, it can be confusing keeping track of everything. Roth IRAs are a bit different than Traditional IRAs, including the contribution age limits. Read on to discover when and how much you can contribute to a Roth IRA.
Minimum Age Limit
Surprisingly, there is not a minimum age limit to Roth IRA contributions. The caveat, however, is that the owner of the account must earn taxable income in order to contribute to one. So, no, you can’t start one for your newborn grandchild. Once they start earning income, however, they can open and contribute to one. Unfortunately, their allowance for household chores doesn’t count as income in this sense. Typically, they will need to prove they were on payroll somewhere in order to count it as taxable income. If you owned a business and included them on your payroll for work they performed for the business, then this is usually deemed acceptable. Always double check with your local financial advisor first before employing this strategy.
Starting a Roth IRA for a teen’s first job is one of the wisest choices they can make with those dollars. Not only will their retirement money grow tax-free, but it can also grow to a couple hundred thousand dollars by the time they reach retirement age. Not to mention, they have the most expendable income at this age due to their lack of bills and other responsibilities. One of the “downsides” to this, however, is that they will have unlimited access to these funds once they reach age 18. If you want more control over when they can access their funds, a trust fund or naming them as a beneficiary on your own retirement account may be better options.
Remember, though, they can only contribute the maximum amount every year ($6,000 for 2021), or up to the amount they earned if it was less than $6,000. So, if they made $3,000 from their part-time fast-food job this year, they can only contribute up to $3,000 into their Roth IRA.
Maximum Age Limit
Unlike Traditional IRAs, there is actually no maximum age limits for contributions to a Roth IRA. As long as you are earning taxable income, you can contribute to your Roth—even if you’re 95! Contribution limits still apply. If you don’t have an income, but your spouse does, they can make contributions with their income into a Spousal IRA for you.
Also, you can make perform a rollover to a Roth IRA at any age, regardless of income. If you want to roll over funds from a Traditional IRA once you reach the minimum age for required minimum distributions on that account, you can. Just be aware that you may need to pay taxes on the funds rolled from a Traditional to Roth IRA, so always consult your financial advisor before making any moves. Due to restricted recharacterization laws, owners are no longer permitted to recharacterize a Roth rollover. Once you roll over, there’s no going back. Just another reason to consult your advisor before moving funds!