When Can You Start a Roth IRA? Age, Income, and Contribution Limits

You can start a Roth IRA at any age. Federal law sets no minimum birthday and no upper cutoff, so a 15-year-old with a summer paycheck and a 78-year-old still working part-time are both eligible. What actually decides whether you can contribute is two things: you need taxable compensation from work, and your income has to fall below the IRS thresholds for your filing status.¹

No Age Floor or Ceiling

The tax code does not attach an age to Roth IRA eligibility. You can open one and contribute at any age as long as you (or your spouse, if you file jointly) have taxable compensation and your modified adjusted gross income stays under the limits.¹

That is a real difference from traditional IRAs, which used to block contributions after age 70½. A Roth also has no required minimum distributions during the account owner’s lifetime, so you never have to pull money out if you don’t want to.² Traditional IRAs, by contrast, force distributions starting at age 73. If you are in your late 60s or 70s and still earning, the Roth is one of the few retirement accounts that will still take your money.

Roth IRAs for Kids and Teens

Because there is no minimum age, a parent or legal guardian can open a custodial Roth IRA for a child who has earned income. Babysitting, mowing lawns, or a part-time job all qualify, as long as the pay is legitimate taxable compensation. The adult manages the account until the child reaches the age of majority — 18 or 21, depending on the state — and control then passes to the young account holder.

The Earned Income Rule

The real gate is what kind of income you have, not how old you are. To contribute to a Roth IRA you need taxable compensation, which the tax code defines as wages, salaries, tips, self-employment earnings, and similar pay for work you perform.³ Investment income does not count. Neither do interest, dividends, rental income, Social Security benefits, or pension payments.

Your contribution for the year cannot exceed your taxable compensation for that year. If you earned $3,000, that is the ceiling, even though the standard 2026 limit is higher. Someone whose only money comes from investments or Social Security cannot contribute at all, no matter how much they have in the bank.³

The Spousal Exception

There is one carve-out. If you are married, file jointly, and one spouse has little or no earned income, the working spouse’s pay can support a Roth IRA contribution for the non-earning spouse. This is sometimes called a spousal IRA. The non-earning spouse can contribute up to the full annual limit ($7,500 for 2026, or $8,600 if age 50 or older), provided the working spouse’s compensation is at least equal to the couple’s combined contributions.⁴ The couple’s MAGI still has to fall inside the joint phase-out range.

Income Limits That Can Shut You Out

Earning enough to contribute is one hurdle. Earning too much is the other. The IRS uses your modified adjusted gross income to phase out Roth eligibility for higher incomes. Inside the phase-out range, your allowed contribution shrinks. Above it, direct Roth contributions are off the table.

For the 2026 tax year, the phase-out ranges are:⁵

Single or head of household: phase-out from $153,000 to $168,000. Below $153,000 you can contribute the full amount; at $168,000 or more, nothing directly.
Married filing jointly: phase-out from $242,000 to $252,000.
Married filing separately (if you lived with your spouse at any point during the year): the range runs from $0 to $10,000, which puts direct contributions out of reach for most people in that filing status.⁶

Contributing more than your allowed amount triggers a 6% excise tax on the excess for every year it stays in the account, so knowing where your MAGI lands before you deposit money matters.⁷

How Much You Can Put In for 2026

For the 2026 tax year, the annual contribution limit across all your traditional and Roth IRAs combined is $7,500 if you are under 50. If you turn 50 or older at any point during the year, you can contribute up to $8,600. The extra $1,100 is a catch-up contribution.⁸

The limit applies to your IRAs as a group, not to each account separately. Put $3,000 into a traditional IRA and your Roth ceiling for the same year drops to $4,500 (assuming you are under 50). And the lesser-of rule still governs: your total contribution cannot exceed your taxable compensation, even if that is below the standard limit.

If Your Income Is Too High

An income above the phase-out limits does not permanently lock you out of a Roth. A route commonly called a backdoor Roth IRA remains legal as of 2026. You make a non-deductible contribution to a traditional IRA, which has no income cap, then convert that balance to a Roth. Because the contribution was already after-tax, the conversion itself generally creates no additional tax.⁶

The catch is the pro-rata rule. If you hold any other traditional, SEP, or SIMPLE IRA money that includes pre-tax dollars, the IRS treats all your traditional IRA balances as one pool for the taxable-portion calculation. To avoid a surprise bill, you would need to roll those pre-tax balances into an employer plan such as a 401(k) before converting, or convert everything at once. You also have to file IRS Form 8606 for any year you make a non-deductible traditional IRA contribution or a Roth conversion.⁹

When You Can Contribute for a Given Year

You have about 15½ months to fund a Roth IRA for any given tax year. The window opens January 1 of the tax year and closes on the tax-filing deadline the following spring, typically April 15. So a 2026 contribution can be made anytime between January 1, 2026, and April 15, 2027.

If you deposit between January 1 and April 15, tell your custodian which tax year the money is for. Otherwise the institution will usually apply it to the current calendar year, which can waste your prior-year allowance. The overlap is useful in practice because it lets you wait until your income for the year is settled before deciding what you are allowed to put in.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Traditional and Roth IRAs
2
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 219 – Retirement Savings
4
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-A, Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
5
Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408A – Roth IRAs
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4973 – Tax on Excess Contributions to Certain Tax-Favored Accounts and Annuities
8
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – IRA Contribution Limits
9
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8606