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IRAs — or individual retirement accounts — are phenomenal wealth-building tools, but there’s a limit to the amount of wealth you can build with them.
Congress has imposed limits on the amount of money you can contribute each year to your Traditional IRA and/or Roth IRA accounts.
A silver lining, however, is that these limits are generally increased every year or two.
2020 and 2021 IRA Contribution Limits
Contribution Limits by Age
For both tax years 2020 and 2021, those under the age of 50 can contribute up to $6,000 in total to Traditional and Roth IRA accounts per tax year.
Those age 50 or older can contribute up to $7,000 each tax year.
Note that you can’t contribute more than your earned income to an IRA, so if you only had earned income of $2,000 this year, you can only contribute $2,000 to an IRA.
There is an exception if you are a nonworking spouse in which case you can count your spouse’s earned income as your earned income for purposes of IRA contribution limits. The income cannot be double counted, however, for both your spouse’s IRA contributions and your IRA contributions; therefore, your spouse would have to earn at least $12,000 in order for both you and he or she to max out your respective IRA contributions, assuming you are both under the age of 50.
Can You Contribute to Both a Traditional IRA and a Roth IRA?
Yes, you can contribute to both a Traditional IRA and a Roth IRA in the same year!
However, the total combined contributions to all IRA accounts cannot exceed the annual limit.
2020 and 2021 IRA Income Limits
Roth IRA Income Limits
You can’t directly contribute to a Roth IRA if you make more than a certain amount of money depending on your filing status.
Check out the table below to see where you stand — if your income is over the threshold for your filing status, you may want to consider a free and easy backdoor Roth IRA.
| Single, head of household or married filling separately (if you did not live with spouse during year) | 2020: less than $124,000 2021: less than $125,000 | 2020: between $124,000 and $138,999 2021: between $125,000 and $139,999 | 2020: $139,000 or more 2021: $140,000 or more |
| Married filing jointly or qualifying widow(er) | 2020: less than $196,000 2021: less than $198,000 | 2020: between $196,000 and $205,999 2021: between $198,000 and $207,999 | 2020: $206,000 or more 2021: $208,000 or more |
| Married filing separately (if you lived with spouse at any time during year) | 2020: Full contribution not permitted. 2021: Full contribution not permitted. | 2020: less than $10,000 2021: less than $10,000 | 2020: $10,000 or more 2021: $10,000 or more |
Traditional IRA Income Limits
Unlike a Roth IRA, you can make millions of dollars a year and still contribute to a Traditional IRA.
Whether or not you can actually deduct that contribution, however, is a different story.
If you or your spouse is covered by a retirement plan at work, you’ll need to consult the table below to determine the deductibility of your Traditional IRA contributions for the year.
| Single or head of household and you are covered by a retirement plan at work | 2020: $65,000 or less
2021: $66,000 or less | 2020: between $65,001 and $74,999
2021: between $66,001 and $75,999 | 2020: $75,000 or more
2021: $76,000 or more |
| Married filing jointly and you're covered by retirement plan at work | 2020: $104,000 or less 2021: $105,000 or less | 2020: between $104,001 and $123,999
2021: between $105,001 and $124,999 | 2020: $124,000 or more
2021: $125,000 or more |
| Married filing jointly and your spouse is covered by a retirement plan at work | 2020: $196,000 or less
2021: $198,000 or less | 2020: between $196,001 and $205,999
2021: between $198,001 and $207,999 | 2020: $206,000 or more
2021: $208,000 or more |
| Married filing separately and you or your spouse is covered by a retirement plan at work | 2020: Full deduction not permitted.
2021: Full deduction not permitted. | 2020: between $0 and $9,999
2021: between $0 and $9,999 | 2020: $10,000 or more
2021: $10,000 or more |
Author:
Logan is a practicing CPA and founder of Choice Tax Relief and Money Done Right. After spending nearly a decade in the corporate world helping big businesses save money, he launched his blog with the goal of helping everyday Americans earn, save, and invest more money. Learn more about Logan.
