Page 18 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Thursday, July 3, 2025 Savvy Senior by Jim Miller What Is a Spousal IRA? Dear Savvy Senior, What can you tell me about spousal IRAs? My spouse and I are in our 50s and are looking for ways to boost our retirement savings. My wife is a homemaker and caregiver, and works part time too, but her income is very small. Need a Boost Dear Need, Saving for retirement can be very difficult for married spouses who stay home to care for family or otherwise have scant income. But there is a little-known tax break offered by the Internal Revenue Service – known as a spousal IRA – that can help them, and their partner save for retirement. Spousal individual retirement accounts allow a working spouse to contribute to a nonworking or low-earning spouse’s retirement savings. They can be set up as a traditional IRA or Roth IRA, which allow couples to save for retirement on a tax-deferred or taxfree basis. How They Work A spousal IRA isn’t a unique type of IRA or a joint account, but instead it is a separate IRA opened and owned in the name of the nonworking or low-income earning spouse. This will not only help boost your family’s overall retirement savings, but it provides non-working/ low-earning spouses access to their own funds in an unforeseen event like the death of their spouse, divorce, or illness. To qualify for a spousal IRA, spouses must file taxes jointly as a married couple, and the working spouse must have enough earned income (taxable income such as wages, salary, bonuses, commissions, and self-employment income) to cover contributions for both parties. The process of opening a spousal IRA is also no different from opening a regular IRA. Brokerage firms and many banks and other financial institutions offer IRAs. In 2025, each spouse under age 50 can contribute up to $7,000 annually to an IRA, or $8,000 annually for those over age 50, but the total contribution can’t exceed the taxable earned income reported on the couple’s tax return. Otherwise, the IRS limits contributions based on their earned income. Roth or Traditional? Deciding whether to open a Roth or traditional IRA depends on your tax situation and financial goals. Traditional IRA contributions typically are tax deductible the year in which they are made and are beneficial during high-income earning years. Contributions grow tax-free until they are withdrawn during retirement. Roth IRA contributions aren’t tax deductible the year in which they are made, but qualified contributions plus any earnings grow tax-free and are withdrawn tax-free in retirement as long as the couple follows IRS rules. Among them: you must be 59½ and have held your Roth IRA for at least five years before you withdraw investment earnings tax-free and penalty-free. There are also penalties for withdrawals on traditional IRAs before age 59½ unless the owner qualifies for an exception, and he or she must begin taking the annual withdrawals known as required minimum distributions (RMDs) from these plans the year he or she turns 73 (or 75 beginning in 2033). Roth IRAs don’t require RMDs until after the death of the owner. However, beneficiaries of a Roth IRA generally will need to take RMDs to avoid penalties, although there is an exception for spouses. For more information on the IRS rules of both traditional and Roth IRAs see IRS.gov/ retirement-plans/traditional-and-roth-iras. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior. org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book. 1. On July 4, 1974, the first “1812 Overture” with fireworks and cannons took place where? 2. In India what bird is being raised as a backup for modern communication methods? 3. What bottled beverage that gives “spunk” began in Lowell and was first bottled in JP? 4. In what year did the Red Sox’ David Ortiz win the Home Run Derby: 2010, 2015 or 2020? 5. On July 5, 1937, what canned product advertised as “miracle meat” debuted? 6. In 1781 what state’s General Court resolved to make July 4 a day of “public rejoicing”? 7. July 6 is National Fried Chicken Day; how are a cockerel and a pullet different? 8. In 1906 what company produced a special mailer advertising mail order tombstones? 9. How many leaning towers are there in Pisa: one, three or 11? 10. In 1889 what composer created “The Washington Post” march for that paper’s essay contest awards ceremony? 11. On July 7, 2019, what team defeated the Netherlands to win a fourth World Cup? 12. What film actor known as “Man of a Thousand Faces” wrote about makeup in an edition of “Encyclopædia Britannica”? 13. Windham, Connecticut, has the largest of what kind of July 4 parade without a band? 14. On July 8, 1949, what chef/restaurateur was born who has an animal’s name and a Shakespearean name in his name? 15. In Texas what Guinness World Record was created by stating “Happy 4th of July 2023”? 16. What kind of French pastry is known as part of an elephant? 17. On July 9, 1955, what hit by Bill Haley & His Comets became the first Billboard number one rock-and-roll single? 18. Most advanced semiconductors are made on what island? 19. In what country are the next Olympic Games: France, Italy or USA? 20. On July 10, 1871, what French author of “Remembrance of Things Past” was born? ANSWERS 1. The Hatch Shell on the Esplanade in Boston 2. Carrier pigeons (used by police traditionally and now being raised in case of disaster) 3. Moxie (The Moxieland factory was in JP; the beverage is now Maine’s state soft drink.) 4. 2010 5. Spam 6. Massachusetts 7. A cockerel is a young male domestic chicken and a pullet is a young hen; traditionally, young chickens are best for making fried chicken. 8. Sears, Roebuck, and Co. 9. Three (the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the bell towers of the church of St. Nicola and the church of St. Michele degli Scalzi) 10. John Philip Sousa (The new dance the “two-step” became identified with the march.) 11. USA women’s soccer 12. Lon Chaney 13. 40th annual Boom Box Parade, where a radio station plays marching band music 14. Wolfgang Puck 15. “largest aerial sentence formed by multirotors/drones” 16. Elephant ear (palmier) 17. “Rock Around the Clock” 18. Taiwan 19. Italy 20. Marcel Proust
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