Spousal IRAs - How Almost Anyone Can Make an IRA Contribution

With the market meltdown depleting retirement account balances virtually everywhere, saving for retirement is making a comeback. Recently negative, the national savings rate has pushed back into positive territory. That's good news. But to be most effective in saving for our golden years, it's important not only to save, but also in the best ways. More often that not, using tax-advantaged plans such as regular (or traditional) IRAs, Roth IRAs, or 401(k) plans is appropriate.

While non-working spouses cannot contribute to workplace retirement accounts like 401(k)s, IRAs are another story thanks to spousal IRAs. Indeed, both spouses can contribute to an IRA - even if only one spouse works. Furthermore, if one spouse earns more than $10,000, both spouses can contribute the maximum $5,000 to each of their IRAs. (If both spouses are 50 or older, than one spouse would need to make at least $12,000 so that each can contribute the maximum $6,000 per individual.) Either way, spousal IRAs great opportunities to garner some tax-deferred or tax-free growth.