Spousal IRA Explained: Who Can Contribute and How Much

Many couples live on one paycheck, or on one main paycheck and a small second one. An IRA normally needs "compensation," meaning pay you earned. A spousal IRA is a rule that helps in this case. This guide explains the rule using IRS sources. It explains rules only and does not say what any couple should do.

What is a spousal IRA?

A spousal IRA is not a special type of account. It is an ordinary traditional or Roth IRA that is opened in the name of the spouse who has little or no income. The "spousal" part is the rule that lets the contribution happen.

The IRS puts the rule this way: "If you file a joint return, you may be able to contribute to an IRA even if you didn't have taxable compensation," as long as your spouse did (IRS, IRA contribution limits). IRS Publication 590-A adds that "if you file a joint return, only one of you needs to have compensation" (Publication 590-A (2025)).

The IRS publication describes the rule as applying to joint filers whose "taxable compensation is less than that of your spouse."

Who can use it?

Based on the IRS pages we read, these are the conditions:

• You are married and file a joint return. If you file separate returns, Publication 590-A says "the amount that can be contributed to your IRA is limited by your earned income."
• Your spouse has taxable compensation. The IRS page on contribution limits says the rule works "as long as your spouse did" have it.
• The contribution fits within the limits below.

Age is not a barrier in the way it used to be. Publication 590-A says the old rule that stopped contributions to a traditional IRA at a certain age "has been repealed" for tax years after 2019. For Roth IRAs it says there is no age limit: "You can be any age." Compensation is still required. A spousal IRA lets the couple's pay count, but someone must have earned it.

How much can each spouse contribute in 2026?

The IRS lists the 2026 IRA limit as $7,500, or $8,600 if you are age 50 or older (IRS). The $1,100 extra amount for age 50 and older appears in the IRS 2026 limits notice (Notice 2025-67).

There is also a cap tied to pay. The IRS says that for spousal IRAs, "the total of your combined contributions can't be more than the taxable compensation reported on your joint return."

So both limits apply. Each person is held to the per-person limit, and the two contributions together are held to the joint compensation.

The amounts in the table are our own arithmetic from the IRS limits above. They assume the couple has no other IRA contributions that year. Publication 590-A describes how the joint cap is figured. It starts from the couple's compensation and subtracts the working spouse's own IRA contributions. We did not read every detail of that calculation, so check the publication. In the 2025 edition the IRS says combined contributions "can be as much as $14,000" for a couple where neither spouse is 50 or older, which fits the same two-limits idea with the 2025 figure of $7,000 each.

A worked example from the IRS

Publication 590-A gives an example of a 53-year-old with $3,800 of earnings in 2025 who is married to a spouse who earned $48,000. On a joint return the publication says this person can contribute up to $8,000 to their own IRA because of the spousal rule. Filing separately, the limit would be the $3,800 earned. That example uses 2025 figures, so use the 2026 amounts above for the current year.

Is a spousal IRA contribution deductible?

It depends on whether the contribution goes into a traditional or a Roth IRA.

Roth IRA contributions are not deducted. They are limited by income instead. A traditional IRA contribution may be deductible, and the rules depend on whether either spouse is covered by a retirement plan at work. The IRS 2026 ranges are below (Notice 2025-67). They are based on modified adjusted gross income (modified AGI), which is your income after certain adjustments.

Inside a phase-out range, the amount you can deduct or contribute shrinks. Above the top of the range, a traditional deduction is not allowed and a Roth contribution is not allowed. Our guide to traditional vs Roth IRAs explains how the two types differ. Our Gold IRA contribution and deduction guide covers deductions in more detail.

Publication 590-A also says that if you were divorced or legally separated (and did not remarry) by the end of the year, you "can't deduct any contributions to your spouse's IRA." We read this only in the 2025 edition and did not read the rest of the rule.

What are common mistakes?

• Treating the limit as shared. Each spouse has their own limit. The joint compensation sets a ceiling over both.
• Contributing more than the joint compensation. The IRS caps combined contributions at the compensation on the joint return. We did not read the IRS excess-contribution rules.
• Filing separately and assuming the rule still applies. The spousal rule is tied to a joint return, and on separate returns the IRS says contributions are limited by your own earned income.
• Using last year's numbers. The IRS changes limits and income ranges each year. The 2025 figures in Publication 590-A are not the 2026 figures.
• Forgetting the Roth income ranges. A couple above the Roth range cannot contribute directly to a Roth IRA.

Questions to take to a professional

• Do our joint compensation and our modified AGI allow the contributions we want, for traditional and for Roth?
• Is either of us covered by a retirement plan at work for deduction purposes?
• How does this fit with the rest of our plan? See our guide to planning retirement as a couple and the year-end retirement account dates.
• Would other accounts, such as a workplace 401(k), change our choices? See IRA vs 401(k).

For the full retirement series, see our retirement planning guide.

Where gold and silver IRAs fit - and where they do not

A spousal IRA rule decides who can contribute. It does not decide what the IRA holds. Some IRAs, called self-directed IRAs, can be set up with custodians that allow approved precious metals. Whether a particular account allows it depends on the custodian.

People who consider gold and silver for retirement accounts usually point to three arguments: diversification away from stocks and bonds, periods in history when inflation was high, and the appeal of holding a tangible asset. These are arguments, not promises, and this site does not forecast prices.

The costs and rules matter as much. The IRS says an individually directed account's acquisition of a collectible is treated as an immediate distribution equal to its cost. It lists "gold, silver, platinum, or palladium bullion of a certain fineness" as excluded from that definition "if a bank or approved non-bank trustee keeps physical possession of it" (IRS collectibles page). Custodian, storage and dealer fees reduce returns, and metals can fall in value. Compare any fee schedule with the size of the contribution. Our Roth gold IRA guide, traditional gold IRA guide, gold IRA contribution limits, fee guide and risk guide explain more. This site does not say whether metals suit any one person or couple.

What we did not check

We did not read the IRS rules on excess IRA contributions, the contribution deadline, how to report contributions on a return, or the full Publication 590-A beyond its first 100,000 characters. Publication 590-A figures we quote are from the 2025 edition and are labeled as such. Confirm your situation with the IRS and a qualified tax professional.