Federal tax law limits 2017 contributions to a traditional and/or Roth IRA to $5,500 for a worker with earned income ($6,500 for those who are age 50 or older before the end of the year). An additional $5,500 can also be saved for a worker’s spouse, regardless of whether or not the spouse is employed. In addition, spouses who are age 50 or older can contribute an additional $1,000 ($6,500 total) for a total of $13,000 of contributions if both individuals are age 50 and older.
If you don’t have this much money available to contribute, that’s okay. Simply save whatever you can, subject to minimum deposit amounts required by an IRA custodian (e.g., bank or mutual fund). Any savings is better than no savings! Minimum deposits required to set up an IRA vary with the financial institution and type of investment. For example, a bank may require a minimum of $500 to purchase a CD for an IRA and a mutual fund may require a $1,000 minimum deposit or higher.
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