2008 Roth/Traditional IRA Phase-Out Limits For High Income Earners
For those people with increasing incomes, you may be wondering when either Roth IRAs and tax-deductible contributions to Traditional IRAs start being taken away from you. Here are the phase-out numbers for the 2008 tax year:
Roth IRA Phase-Out Limits
Once you reach the bottom of these phase-out ranges for your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), your contribution limit of $5,000 starts getting reduced. At the top of the range, you can no longer contribute at all.
| Tax Filing Status | Phase-Out Range |
| Married filing jointly or qualifying widow(er) | $159,000 to $169,000 |
| Single, head of household | $101,000 to $116,000 |
| Married filing separately (and you lived with your spouse at any time during the year) | $0 to $10,000 |
Traditional IRA Deductibility Phase-Out Limits
Once you reach the bottom of these phase-out ranges, your full deduction starts getting reduced. At the top of the range, you can no longer deduct taxes on any contributions at all. This table assumes that both you and your spouse are covered by an employer retirement plan.
| Tax Filing Status | Phase-Out Range |
| Married filing jointly or qualifying widow(er) | $83,000 to $103,000 |
| Single or head of household | $52,000 to $62,000 |
| Married filing separately | $0 to $10,000 |
If you are single and are not covered by an employer retirement plan, or you’re married filing jointly and neither of you have a employer retirement plan, then there are no income limits for deductibility. If one spouse has a plan and the other does not, then the phase out range is $156,000 to $166,000.
Reference: See IRS Pub 590 for way too many details.
Find more in Retirement | 3/25/08, 4:39am | Trackback







March 25th, 2008 at 4:42 am
[...] you reach a certain income, both Roth IRAs and tax-deductible contributions to Traditional IRAs are no longer available. After you max out your 401(k) or 403(b) plan at $15,500 per year, you start running out of [...]
January 16th, 2009 at 8:48 am
[...] Retirement Accounts: As others have mentioned, you are going to need a more robust retirment savings plan. If I had to give a general guideline, it would be a goal of at least 15-20% of your income. Your DH starting out is making a very good income, but I would say his lifetime earning potential is probably pretty doggone good and your goal is to replace income at the end of your income earning stream. That could be quite a bit more than what he is making just starting out. Some questions: Will your DH be eligible for any kind of pension through his place of work? You should have your own retirement account. Actually both you and your DH could contribute to a non-deductible IRA. In 2010, you could even convert those IRA’s into a Roth because they are removing the income limits on conversions. You would have to pay taxes on the earnings only, so it probably wouldn’t be a big amount on the taxes. Article on Ask the Expert: Demystifying IRA Conversion Rules income phase out chart for traditional and roths [...]