How Much Can You Contribute to a Traditional IRA for 2019?
From: kiplinger.com
The IRA contribution limit is $6,000 for 2019. If you are age 50 or over, you can contribute an extra $1,000 as a catch-up contribution.
Good news for retirement savers: The maximum amount that can be contributed to a traditional IRA increased by $500 for 2019. It’s the first increase for the IRA contribution limit since 2013. The income limits to qualify for a tax deduction of your IRA contribution also increased slightly for 2019.
IRA Contribution Limits for 2019
The maximum amount you can contribute to a traditional IRA for 2019 is $6,000 if you’re younger than age 50. Workers age 50 and older can add an extra $1,000 per year as a “catch-up” contribution, bringing the maximum IRA contribution to $7,000. You must have earnings from work to contribute to an IRA, and you can’t put more into the account than you earned. In 2018, the IRA contribution limit was $5,500 ($6,500 including the catch-up contribution).
Your 2019 IRA contributions may also be tax-deductible. If you—and your spouse, if married—don’t have a retirement plan at work such as a 401(k), you can deduct the full contribution to your traditional IRA on your tax return no matter how much you earn. You have until the federal tax filing deadline to make your IRA contribution for the previous year. For most taxpayers, the deadline for filing 2019 tax returns is April 15, 2020.
Even if you have a retirement plan on the job, you may still be able to deduct some or all of your contribution depending on your income. For 2019 IRA contributions, the amount of income you can have and still get a full or partial deduction rises slightly from 2018. Singles with modified adjusted gross income of $64,000 or less and joint filers with income of up to $103,000 can deduct their full contribution for the 2019 tax year. Deductions thereafter decrease and phase out completely once income reaches $74,000 for singles and $123,000 for joint filers. For 2018, singles with modified adjusted gross income of up to $63,000 and married joint filers with income of $101,000 or less were able to deduct their full contributions.
Be aware that you generally must have earned income to contribute to an IRA. But if you’re married and one of you doesn’t work, the employed spouse can make a contribution into a so-called spousal IRA for the other.
You can open a traditional IRA through a bank, brokerage, mutual fund or insurance company and invest your IRA money in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other approved investments.
