In partnership with The Wall Street Journal
Guest or
Level:
Newcomer
FiQ Points:
0
« All Individual Retirement Account (IRA) questions Ask a Question

Want to ask a different question?

corkyg
FiLifer

If the IRA is only in my name and my husband doesn't have one, can I use his earned income to contribute to mine??


  •  

We are both 57. I don't work and his gross earned income was 8500.00. Can I contribute 6000. into my IRA??

Reply

2 Responses

Sort by:

Hal M. Bundrick, CFP
FiLife Contributor

Yep. As long as you and your husband file a joint tax return, your husband can contribute the $5000 limit, plus the $1000 "catch-up" limit as a "spousal" contribution.

Was this useful?

Yes

(0)

No

(0)

Michael Kitces
FiLife Contributor

Corkyg,
Yes, you can make a spousal IRA contribution in this situation.

However, you will be "using" $6,000 of his earned income to do this, which means his IRA contribution will be limited to counting only the remaining $2,500. In other words, under the spousal IRA rules you can count his earned income towards your IRA contribution or his IRA contribution, but not both.

You can see more about spousal IRA contributions at: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/03/021903.asp

I hope that helps a little!

Was this useful?

Yes

(0)

No

(1)

Reply to this Question

Generic User Image

Participating in the FiLife community requires a user account.

You can or sign in with your Facebook account by clicking this button:

If you're already a member, .

Stacker Poll of the Day

Market Summary

INDU Chart
COMP Chart
SPX Chart

Enter Symbol or Keyword

Quote:
Separate multiple quotes with spaces