Spousal IRAs?

[anna7602]

Did I make up this term/category of IRAs? I am looking at the Fidelity site and see nothing that matches this.

My situation is that I have two major clients who are very behind in paying me. So, for 2012, I earned way too little to contribute anything significant to my Self-Employed 401K. I'm trying to figure out what I can do to make 2012 retirement contributions without it being dependent on income I've earned in a given year.

I don't qualify for a Roth IRA. I have a roll-over IRA, but I don't think I can make new contributions to this?

[Deleted]

Not made-up!

www.smartmoney.com/retirement/planning/spousal-iras-7956/

It would be non-deductible, so the tax advantage is that if you reinvest the money along the way, you won't pay capital gains tax when you do so. But you've already paid money on the contributions that are going in, and will be taxed again when it is taken out.

When I was with Vanguard, my IRA contributions went into their own account that was separate from my rollover IRAs. Our IRAs are now with Fidelity, and the money goes into the same account as my rollover traditional IRA.

[SJ]

You can use the existing rollover IRA that you have- just make sure you have good records of how much was rolled into it.

This is important if you ever need to sort out how much of the money in it was pre tax (old 401k money for example) and how much was post tax (the non deductible contribution we are currently talking about for example). You need to know this ratio if you ever decide to convert some/all to a Roth IRA.

I think that is the reason some people open separate accounts- for ease of record keeping- but it should be fine to have one traditional IRA.

[SJ]

Also you can do the IRA and a SEP IRA or SE 401K.

[Deleted]

Feb 1, 2013 8:15:23 GMT -5 SJ said:

You can use the existing rollover IRA that you have- just make sure you have good records of how much was rolled into it.

This is important if you ever need to sort out how much of the money in it was pre tax (old 401k money for example) and how much was post tax (the non deductible contribution we are currently talking about for example). You need to know this ratio if you ever decide to convert some/all to a Roth IRA.

I think that is the reason some people open separate accounts- for ease of record keeping- but it should be fine to have one traditional IRA.

Let's say there's no chance you'll ever convert it to a Roth -- would I need these records anyway?  Just wondering what I need to hold onto for the next 35 or whatever years.

[anna7602]

Thanks, ladies. I will call Fidelity Monday morning and see what they recommend re: contributing to an existing rollover IRA v. starting a new one.