Can Anyone Contribute to an IRA? Income and Age Requirements

Anyone with taxable earned income can put money into an IRA, but the IRA contribution eligibility rules layer three separate tests on top of that: a dollar cap, a Roth income ceiling, and a deductibility phase-out for Traditional accounts if you’re covered by a workplace plan. For 2026, the annual limit is $7,500, or $8,600 if you’re 50 or older.¹ Getting any of the three tests wrong can trigger a 6% excise tax that keeps compounding until you fix it.²

You Need Earned Income

Every contribution has to be backed by taxable compensation, meaning money you actively earned from working. Wages, salaries, tips, commissions, bonuses, and net self-employment income all qualify.³

What doesn’t count: interest and dividends, rental income, pension payments, Social Security, annuity distributions, child support, and unemployment compensation. Passive income and transfer payments sit outside the IRS definition of compensation for IRA purposes.

Your contribution is capped at the lesser of $7,500 or your total earned income for the year. Earn $4,000 in 2026 and $4,000 is your ceiling.⁴ That cap applies across all your IRAs combined, Traditional and Roth together.

Two Income Types People Miss

Nontaxable combat pay counts as compensation even though it’s excluded from your gross income. Military members serving in a combat zone can use that pay to fund an IRA.⁵

Taxable fellowship and stipend payments to graduate and postdoctoral students also qualify under the SECURE Act, even when they aren’t reported on a W-2.³ Before 2020, students with only stipend income were locked out.

The 2026 Contribution Limit and Deadline

You can contribute up to $7,500 for 2026 across all your Traditional and Roth IRAs. If you’re 50 or older by the end of the year, an additional $1,100 catch-up brings the ceiling to $8,600.¹ Split it however you want between Traditional and Roth, but the combined total cannot exceed the limit.

The deadline is April 15 of the following year. A 2026 contribution can be made anytime between January 1, 2026, and April 15, 2027. Filing a tax extension does not push this date back.

Spousal IRA for a Non-Working Spouse

A non-working spouse can still contribute to an IRA if the couple files jointly and the working spouse earns enough to cover both contributions.³ To max both accounts in 2026, the working spouse needs at least $15,000 of earned income.⁴

The non-working spouse’s account is held in their own name, with full ownership. Two conditions are strict: you must be legally married, and you must file jointly. Filing separately shuts the door. One narrow exception: if your divorce or separation agreement was executed before January 1, 2019, taxable alimony you receive counts as compensation for IRA purposes. Agreements executed after that date don’t.⁶

No Age Ceiling, No Age Floor

There is no maximum age for IRA contributions. The old rule that barred Traditional IRA contributions after age 70½ was eliminated by the SECURE Act, so older workers with earned income can keep contributing indefinitely.⁴ Roth IRAs never had one.

Traditional IRA owners still owe required minimum distributions starting at age 73, even while contributing.⁷ Depositing $7,500 and taking an RMD in the same year is permitted.

There is also no minimum age. A minor with legitimate earned income, such as wages from a job or a small business, can contribute through a custodial IRA managed by a parent. Allowances and gifts from relatives don’t qualify.

Roth IRA Income Limits for 2026

Roth IRAs cut off direct contributions once your Modified Adjusted Gross Income crosses a threshold that depends on your filing status. For 2026:¹

Single or head of household: full contribution below $153,000 MAGI, reduced between $153,000 and $168,000, none at $168,000 or above.
Married filing jointly: full contribution below $242,000, reduced between $242,000 and $252,000, none at $252,000 or above.
Married filing separately, if you lived with your spouse at any point during the year: the phase-out range is $0 to $10,000, and it is not indexed for inflation. Almost any income eliminates Roth eligibility under this filing status.⁸

Within the phase-out range, your allowed contribution shrinks proportionally. MAGI is generally your adjusted gross income with certain deductions like student loan interest added back. Check it before contributing, not after.

Traditional IRA Deduction Phase-Outs

Anyone with earned income can contribute to a Traditional IRA at any income level. Whether that contribution is deductible is a separate question. If neither you nor your spouse participates in a workplace retirement plan such as a 401(k), your contribution is fully deductible regardless of income.³

If you are covered by a workplace plan, the deduction phases out. For 2026:¹

Single or head of household covered by a workplace plan: full deduction below $81,000, partial between $81,000 and $91,000, none at $91,000 or above.
Married filing jointly and you are covered: full deduction below $129,000, partial between $129,000 and $149,000, none at $149,000 or above.
Married filing jointly, you are not covered but your spouse is: full deduction below $242,000, partial between $242,000 and $252,000, none at $252,000 or above.

When the deduction is off the table, you can still make a nondeductible Traditional IRA contribution. The money grows tax-deferred, and you owe tax only on the earnings when you withdraw. You must report each nondeductible contribution on Form 8606.⁹ Skip that form and you may end up paying tax twice on the same dollars when you eventually take the money out.

If You Earn Too Much for a Roth

High earners over the Roth MAGI limits aren’t necessarily locked out of a Roth. The backdoor Roth strategy involves making a nondeductible Traditional IRA contribution, which has no income limit, and then converting the balance to a Roth IRA. The IRS has not prohibited this approach.

A pro-rata rule complicates the math if you hold pretax money in any Traditional, SEP, or SIMPLE IRA. On conversion, the taxable portion is calculated across all your Traditional IRA balances combined, not just the account you’re converting from.¹⁰ The contribution and conversion both get reported on Form 8606.⁹

Fixing an Excess Contribution

If you contribute more than allowed, whether by exceeding the dollar limit, lacking enough earned income, or crossing the Roth MAGI ceiling, the excess accrues a 6% excise tax every year until you correct it.²

You avoid the penalty by withdrawing the excess plus any earnings it generated before the due date of your tax return, including extensions.¹¹ The earnings portion is taxed as ordinary income and may face a 10% early withdrawal penalty if you’re under 59½. Miss that deadline and you can still apply the excess toward a future year’s limit, but the 6% tax applies for every year it stayed in the account.

1
Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4973 – Tax on Excess Contributions to Certain Tax-Favored Accounts and Annuities
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 219 – Retirement Savings
4
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – IRA Contribution Limits
5
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 3 – Armed Forces Tax Guide
6
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 504 – Divorced or Separated Individuals
7
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
8
Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs
9
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8606 – Nondeductible IRAs
10
Internal Revenue Service. Rollovers of After-Tax Contributions in Retirement Plans
11
Internal Revenue Service. IRA Year-End Reminders