spousal IRA contributions

In short

A friend of mine stayed home for ten years to raise three kids, and she once told me she felt like her retirement had quietly vanished. If that sounds like your house, take heart, because the tax code left a door open. A married couple filing a joint return can put money into an IRA for a spouse who earns little or nothing. The couple together must have enough taxable pay to cover what goes in. The yearly limit for each spouse is set by law and published by the IRS each year, and the site shows the verified figure with its source and date. Each person age the current figure, which the official source publishes each year or older may add an extra catch up amount, which the IRS also sets. The account belongs to the spouse who owns it, no matter whose paycheck funded it. You have until the tax filing deadline to make last year's deposit, so you have time to talk it over.

The whole of it

What it is

I once watched a retired schoolteacher explain her savings to her neighbor, and she said, "Half of it is his, but the other half was always mine." She had the right idea. A spousal IRA is not a special kind of account. It is an ordinary IRA, either traditional or Roth, opened in the name of the spouse who has little or no income. The word spousal only describes whose paycheck makes the deposit possible.

Here is the problem it solves. The general rule says a person may only put money into an IRA from their own taxable pay. A spouse who stays home has none. So that spouse would be shut out. The spousal rule fixes this. If a couple files a joint return, the working spouse's pay can count for both. Each spouse then gets a full IRA of their own.

You may be wondering whether this makes the money shared. It does not. The account is titled to one person. That person names the beneficiaries, and that person makes the choices about the money inside. Only the funding comes from the other spouse.

How it works

If you are the working spouse in a household like this, your pay is the key that opens both doors. The couple files a joint return. The taxable pay on that return must be at least as large as the total put into both IRAs. Taxable pay here means wages, salary, tips, bonuses, and self employment income. It does not mean interest, dividends, or rental income.

Say the couple wants to fund two accounts at the full limit. The joint taxable pay must be at least twice the limit. If the pay is smaller than that, the contributions get capped at the pay. The IRS explains this in Publication 590-A, called Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements.

Now the choice between types. A traditional IRA may give a tax deduction now, and the money is taxed when taken out later. A Roth IRA gives no deduction now, but qualified withdrawals come out tax free. Which one fits depends on income and goals, and that is a decision for the couple. Roth accounts also have income limits, so the couple should check them. Deductions for a traditional IRA can shrink or disappear when income runs high and one spouse has a workplace plan. The rules there are different for the spouse who has the plan and the spouse who does not, and the IRS sets the ranges each year.

Timing is kind here. Contributions for a given tax year may be made up to the filing deadline for that year, not counting extensions. So a deposit made in March can count for the year before.

The numbers, and where to find yours

The yearly contribution limit for each person is $7,500 for 2026 (source, checked 10/4/2026). The extra catch up amount for those age the current figure, which the official source publishes each year or older is the current figure, which the official source publishes each year. The income range where a traditional IRA deduction starts to shrink is the current figure, which the official source publishes each year, and the range for Roth eligibility is the current figure, which the official source publishes each year. These figures change by year, so the site fills in the verified amounts with their source and date.

To find your own numbers, start with your joint return. Look at the total wages on your tax forms. Then add up what you plan to put into both accounts. If your wages are larger, you are clear. The IRS publishes the current limits and ranges each year on its page called Retirement Topics, IRA Contribution Limits, and in Publication 590-A.

A worked example

A neighbor of mine, Carla, works as a dental hygienist, and her husband Marcus stays home with their young twins. Last year Carla earned $52,000. They file jointly. Marcus has no pay of his own.

Carla wants to fund her own IRA. She also wants to fund one for Marcus. For this example, suppose each person may put in $6,000. That is only a made up figure to show the arithmetic. The real figure is $7,500 for 2026 (source, checked 10/4/2026).

Two accounts at $6,000 each is $12,000 in total. Their joint taxable pay is $52,000. Since $12,000 is less than $52,000, they pass the test with room to spare. Carla puts $6,000 in her IRA. She puts $6,000 in Marcus's IRA. The $12,000 total is about 23 percent of their pay, since $12,000 divided by $52,000 is about 0.23.

Now suppose a harder year. Carla earns only $9,000 after cutting back her hours. The pair wants to put in $12,000. But their joint taxable pay is $9,000. The total they can contribute is capped at $9,000. So they might put $4,500 in each account. Check it: $4,500 plus $4,500 is $9,000, which equals their pay and not a dollar more.

One more thing is worth seeing. Marcus's account grows on its own. If the $6,000 earned a steady 5 percent a year, after one year it would be $6,300, because $6,000 times 0.05 is $300. That rate is just an illustration, not a promise. Real returns go up and down.

Where it goes wrong

I have seen smart people trip over small things here, so let me share the common stumbles. Nobody is to blame for them, since the rules are not obvious.

The first is filing separately. The spousal rule works for couples who file a joint return. If a couple files as married filing separately, the stay at home spouse generally cannot use the working spouse's pay. There are narrow exceptions tied to where the couple lived, and the IRS describes them in Publication 590-A.

The second is counting the wrong income. Investment income does not count toward the pay test. A couple with a big dividend check but no wages cannot use it to fund an IRA. The pay must be taxable compensation.

The third is putting in too much. An excess contribution draws a penalty tax from the IRS each year it stays in the account. The account holder has to take out the extra, along with any earnings on it, by the deadline to avoid it. Checking the math before the deposit is far easier than fixing it later.

The fourth is mixing up whose money it is. Once deposited, the money belongs to the account holder. If a couple later splits, that account stays with the person whose name is on it, though a court may divide property in a divorce. Couples do well to talk this through honestly now.

The fifth is missing the Roth income limits or the deduction limits. A couple can fund an account and then learn the deduction is smaller than they hoped. A quick look at the current ranges first saves a headache.

Questions to answer before you leave this page

Do you and your spouse file a joint return, and does your joint taxable pay cover both contributions? Have you looked up this year's limit and the catch up amount if either of you is old enough? Would a traditional IRA or a Roth fit your situation better, and have you checked the income ranges that apply to each? Whose name will go on the account, and who will be listed as the beneficiary? Have you set aside time before the tax filing deadline to make the deposit, and written down the amount so the math can be checked? And have you sat down together, maybe on the porch with a cup of coffee, to talk about what you each want from this money?