What Is the Max You Can Put in a Roth IRA?

A Roth Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA) is a retirement savings account where your money grows tax-free. You contribute money that you have already paid taxes on, and in exchange, your qualified withdrawals in retirement are not taxed. This means investment earnings generated over decades can be withdrawn without being subject to federal income tax. The account also provides a way to lock in your current tax rate on contributions, offering a hedge against potentially higher tax rates in the future.

Annual Contribution Limits

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sets specific limits on how much you can contribute to a Roth IRA each year. For the 2025 tax year, the maximum contribution is $7,500 for individuals under age 50. This limit is per person, not per account, and applies to the combined total of all your IRAs, both Traditional and Roth.

The IRS also allows for catch-up contributions. If you are age 50 or older, you can contribute an additional $1,000. This brings the total maximum contribution for this age group to $8,500 for 2025.

Because the limit is combined, you must track your total contributions across all accounts. For example, a person under 50 could contribute $4,000 to a Roth IRA and $3,500 to a Traditional IRA in 2025, as the total does not surpass the $7,500 annual limit.

Income Restrictions on Contributions

Your ability to contribute to a Roth IRA also depends on your income. The IRS uses your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) to determine eligibility. MAGI is calculated from the Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) on your tax return with certain deductions added back in.

The IRS establishes annual income phase-out ranges that determine your contribution amount. If your MAGI is below the range, you can contribute the full amount. If it falls within the range, you can make a reduced contribution, and if it is above the range, you cannot contribute directly to a Roth IRA for that year.

For the 2025 tax year, the income phase-out ranges are:

• Single or Head of Household: $153,000 to $168,000
• Married Filing Jointly: $240,000 to $260,000
• Married Filing Separately: $0 to $10,000

If your income falls within a phase-out range, you must calculate your reduced contribution limit. For example, the 2025 range for single filers is $15,000 wide. A filer with a MAGI that is halfway into this range would have their contribution limit reduced by 50%. This would cut the maximum $7,500 contribution down to $3,750.

Rules for Making Contributions

A primary rule for Roth IRA contributions is that you must have earned income, such as wages, salaries, or self-employment income. Passive income from sources like interest or dividends does not qualify. Additionally, your contribution cannot exceed your total earned income for the year. For instance, if you earned $4,000, that is the most you could contribute.

The deadline to contribute for a given tax year is the federal tax filing deadline, which is usually April 15 of the following year. This contribution deadline is not extended even if you file for an extension on your tax return.

A spousal IRA rule allows a working spouse to make contributions on behalf of a partner with little or no earned income. To qualify, the couple must file a joint tax return, and the working spouse must have enough earned income to cover contributions for both of them. This allows both partners to save for retirement, even if one is not in the workforce.

Addressing Excess Contributions

Contributing more to your Roth IRA than allowed results in a 6% excise tax on the excess amount. This penalty is reported on IRS Form 5329 and is assessed for each year the excess funds remain in the account. The tax is applied annually until the over-contribution is corrected.

You can correct an excess contribution to avoid the penalty. The primary method is to withdraw the excess amount and any earnings it generated by the tax filing deadline for that year, including extensions. For many, this deadline is October 15 of the year after the contribution. The withdrawn earnings are reported as taxable income but are not subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty.

If you miss the deadline, you can still withdraw the excess funds to prevent the 6% penalty in future years, but you will owe it for the year(s) it remained. Another option is to apply the excess amount to a future year’s contribution limit. For example, an over-contribution of $1,000 can be absorbed by reducing the next year’s contribution by $1,000, though the 6% penalty for the first year still applies.

Indirect Contribution Methods

Individuals with incomes above the direct contribution limits can use a strategy known as the “Backdoor Roth IRA.” This method involves making a non-deductible contribution to a Traditional IRA, which has no income limits, and then converting those funds to a Roth IRA. If the conversion is done before the funds generate significant earnings, the event is generally non-taxable.

A consideration for this strategy is the pro-rata rule, which applies if you have existing funds in Traditional, SEP, or SIMPLE IRAs. The IRS treats all your non-Roth IRAs as a single account for determining the taxability of a conversion. If you have pre-tax money in these accounts, a portion of your conversion will be taxable.

For example, if you have $92,500 in a pre-tax Traditional IRA and contribute a new, non-deductible $7,500 to convert, the IRS views your total IRA balance as $100,000. Of this total, 92.5% is pre-tax money. Therefore, when you convert the $7,500, 92.5% of that amount would be a taxable conversion. This undermines the goal of a tax-free event and makes the backdoor strategy most effective for those with no existing pre-tax IRA balances.