Yes, you can keep contributing to an IRA after 70½. The SECURE Act of 2019 removed the old age cap on Traditional IRAs, and Roth IRAs never had one, so contributing to an IRA after 70½ is now allowed at any age as long as you have earned income. For the 2026 tax year, someone 50 or older can put up to $8,600 into a Traditional or Roth IRA, or split the amount between the two.
What the SECURE Act Changed
Before 2020, the Internal Revenue Code blocked new Traditional IRA contributions once you reached age 70½. Roth IRAs were never subject to that limit, which left an awkward mismatch for older workers. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act, signed in December 2019, eliminated the Traditional IRA age cap for tax years beginning after December 31, 2019. Both account types now follow the same rule: earned income in, contribution allowed, no upper age.1Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – IRA Contribution Limits
How Much You Can Contribute in 2026
The 2026 base IRA limit is $7,500. Anyone 50 or older adds a $1,100 catch-up, for a maximum of $8,600. That ceiling covers your Traditional and Roth contributions combined, not each account separately.2Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
Your real cap is the lower of $8,600 or your taxable compensation for the year. If you earned $4,000 from a part-time job, $4,000 is your limit. The statutory number does not help when your income is below it.1Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – IRA Contribution Limits
What Counts as Earned Income After 70½
The contribution has to be backed by taxable compensation from work. This is where many retirees run into trouble, because plenty of money can be coming in without any of it qualifying.
Income that supports an IRA contribution: wages, salaries, tips, bonuses, commissions, net self-employment earnings, taxable alimony received under pre-2019 divorce agreements, and nontaxable combat pay.3Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 451, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
Income that does not: Social Security benefits, pensions, annuity payments, interest, dividends, rental income, capital gains, and deferred compensation. These may be fully taxable, but they are passive and cannot back a contribution.3Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 451, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
If your income comes from freelance or self-employment work, the number you can use is your net profit minus half of your self-employment tax and minus any retirement plan contributions you made for yourself, so the eligible figure is somewhat lower than gross profit.4Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employed Individuals: Calculating Your Own Retirement Plan Contribution and Deduction
What If You No Longer Work but Your Spouse Does
A working spouse can fund an IRA on behalf of a non-working or lower-earning partner. This is the spousal IRA route, and it has no age limit for either person starting with the 2020 tax year. You need to be married and filing a joint federal return.1Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – IRA Contribution Limits
Each spouse can contribute up to the full $8,600 in 2026, but the couple’s total contributions cannot exceed the taxable compensation on the joint return. A working spouse earning $12,000 can split that between two IRAs — for example $6,000 in each — but the combined total cannot go over $12,000.1Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – IRA Contribution Limits
Whether You Can Deduct It, and Roth Income Limits
Being allowed to contribute is not the same as being allowed to deduct. If you or your spouse is covered by a workplace retirement plan, the Traditional IRA deduction phases out at higher incomes. For 2026, a single filer covered by a workplace plan loses the deduction between $81,000 and $91,000 of modified adjusted gross income. For joint filers where the contributing spouse is covered, the range is $129,000 to $149,000; where only the other spouse is covered, it is $242,000 to $252,000. If neither spouse has a workplace plan, you can deduct the full contribution regardless of income.2Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
Even when the deduction disappears, you can still make a nondeductible Traditional IRA contribution. Earnings grow tax-deferred, and only the earnings get taxed on withdrawal.
Roth IRAs have their own income ceiling. In 2026, single and head-of-household filers phase out between $153,000 and $168,000 of MAGI, and joint filers between $242,000 and $252,000. Above those top numbers, a direct Roth contribution is not allowed.2Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
Contributing While Taking Required Minimum Distributions
You can be pulling money out of a Traditional IRA and putting new money in during the same year. Required minimum distributions currently start at age 73, rising to 75 for those who turn 74 after December 31, 2032.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 401 – Qualified Pension, Profit-Sharing, and Stock Bonus Plans
The obligation to withdraw and the permission to contribute are separate. Take your RMD in January, make a fresh contribution in February, and neither transaction affects the other. The contribution does not offset the RMD. For older workers with part-time earnings, this can route some of the withdrawn money back into a tax-advantaged account.
The Qualified Charitable Distribution Trap
This is the piece most people over 70½ miss. A qualified charitable distribution lets you move money directly from your IRA to a charity and exclude that amount from taxable income, up to $111,000 per person for 2026.6Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs
If you make a deductible Traditional IRA contribution after age 70½, that amount reduces your available QCD exclusion dollar-for-dollar on a cumulative basis. A $5,000 deductible contribution one year carries a $5,000 QCD reduction forward until it is absorbed. The offset does not reset each year. Nondeductible Traditional IRA contributions and Roth contributions do not trigger it.
If you rely on QCDs to cover your RMD without adding to taxable income, weigh a deductible contribution carefully. The deduction now can cost you an equal or larger exclusion later.
Excess Contributions and the Deadline
Contributing more than your earned income or over the annual dollar cap triggers a 6% excise tax on the excess, and it applies every year the money stays in the account. You report it on IRS Form 5329.7Internal Revenue Service. Form 5329 – Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans (Including IRAs) and Other Tax-Favored Accounts
To avoid the penalty, remove the excess and any earnings on it before your tax filing deadline, including extensions. If you earned $3,000 but contributed $7,500, the $4,500 overage has to come out by that date, or you owe $270 (6% of $4,500) for each year it remains. Retirees with a mix of wages, Social Security, and investment income are especially prone to this because it is easy to overstate qualifying compensation.
You do not have to contribute during the calendar year the contribution applies to. For the 2026 tax year, the deadline is April 15, 2027. That gives you time to finalize your earned income figure before deciding on an amount. Tell your IRA custodian which tax year the contribution is for when you deposit it; most will ask.