IRA Rules

• When you set up an individual retirement account, or IRA, you traditionally have to make money before you can contribute. The normal contribution limit for an IRA is $5,000 per year, or $6,000 if you are 50 or older, as of 2011. This contribution limit is lowered if you do not make enough money. However, when it comes to IRAs for non-working spouses, these limits do not apply. You can fund a spousal IRA regardless of whether your spouse makes any money.
  
  

Making Enough Money

• If you want to be able to contribute to a spouse's IRA, you have to make enough money to be eligible to do so. For this process, you have to make enough money to contribute to your own retirement account as well as to your spouse's. For example, as of 2011, the annual limit is $5,000. This means that if you want to max out both your IRA and your spouse's, you have to make at least $10,000 for the year.
  
  

Work Retirement Plan

• If the working spouse participates in a qualified retirement plan through an employer, his ability to contribute to his spouse's IRA may be impaired. If the working spouse participates in a qualified retirement plan, the couple's adjusted gross income must be below a certain range before a full contribution can be made. For example, if the couple makes less than $169,000 per year, then a fully deductible contribution can be made to the spouse's IRA as of 2011.
  
  

No Employee Plan

• In some cases, the working spouse may not be eligible to participate in a qualified retirement plan through an employer. For example, the individual might be self-employed and is not eligible to participate in any retirement plans other than a personal IRA. If this is the case, both spouses can make full $5,000 or $6,000 contributions to their IRA, depending on their age. They can deduct the full amount of these contributions from annual income as well.