It depends. You must have earned income to contribute to an IRA of any type, including a Roth IRA. This means that you must have a salary, hourly wage, or net earnings from consulting or a small business.
If you have earned income, the maximum amount that a person over age 50 can deposit in 2017 in a Roth IRA is the larger of 100% of earnings or $6,500 (the regular $5,500 contribution plus an additional $1,000 catch-up contribution). Roth IRA contributions are not tax deductible. Instead, they are funded with after-tax dollars (i.e., income that has already been taxed).
There’s no age limit for contributions to Roth IRAs. For regular IRAs, you lose the ability to make contributions in the year you turn age 70½ but not for Roth IRAs. If you have earned income, you can contribute to Roth IRA at age 80, 85, or 90. There’s also no lower age limit. A minor with earned income that can be documented can set up a Roth IRA and contribute to it if a plan custodian allows.
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