Can both spouses do a backdoor Roth IRA?
Yes, both spouses can do a backdoor Roth IRA, though it is a yearly process you must manage before tax time. Couples often stop contributing when their combined income gets too high, paralyzed by fears of unknown IRS tax penalties or vague warnings that it is a bad idea. This confusion stops people from opening their own accounts, leaving them wondering why the strategy might be beneficial for their partner but not for them.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
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Can both spouses do a backdoor Roth IRA?
- 1Consulting a fiduciary or financial advisor independently.Did this help you?
- 2Calling customer support at financial institutions like Fidelity for guidance.Did this help you?
- 3Skipping Roth IRA contributions altogether due to income limits.Did this help you?
- 4Reading tutorial articles and wiki guides (e.g. White Coat Investor or r/personalfinance wiki)Did this help you?
- 5Having a spouse increase their retirement contributionsDid this help you?
- 6Investing through a regular taxable brokerage accountDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I stopped contributing to my roth ira when I got married years ago because our combined income was too high.”source ↗
“My husband told me he mentioned this to his father in passing, and his father said it was a bad idea without giving any explanation.”source ↗
“Is there any benefit to me opening a back door ira or not? Why would it be beneficial for my husband to do so but not for me?”source ↗
“My husband thinks maybe there is some kind of tax penalty from the irs that we are unaware of.”source ↗
“Husband and I make too much to contribute to a Roth IRA and I’ve trying to grasp a “backdoor IRA”. Where and how do I do this? Is this a yearly thing I need to babysit before tax time?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 19Should I do a Roth conversion or stick to traditional 401k?
- 16Keep defined benefit pension or roll over to an IRA?
- 15Should I invest a lump sum all at once or spread it out?
- 2Is a 401k match worth it for a summer internship?
- 6Why bother with an HSA when you have no employer match and high premiums?
- 3Should I sell brokerage investments to max out retirement accounts?