Contribution Limits

• As of 2011, you can contribute a maximum of $5,000 annually to a Roth IRA if you are less than 50 years old. If you are 50 or older, you can contribute up to $6,000 a year. Roth IRA income limits gradually reduce the maximum contribution if your income exceeds a certain threshold; beyond a certain point, you are simply ineligible to make a Roth IRA contribution.
  
  

Phase-Out Limits for Joint Filers

• If you are married and filing jointly in 2011, you are eligible to make the maximum Roth IRA contribution if you and your partner's combined Modified Adjusted Gross Income does not exceed $169,000. If your combined income is between $169,000 and $179,000, you can contribute a percentage of the maximum to a Roth IRA. If your joint MAGI exceeds $179,000 in 2011, you cannot contribute directly to a Roth IRA.
  
  

Phase-Out Limits for Single Filers

• If you are a single filer in 2011, you can contribute the maximum limit to a Roth IRA if your MAGI does not exceed $107,000. If you make up to $122,000, you can contribute a percentage of the maximum limit. If your income exceeds $122,000 in 2011, you are ineligible to contribute directly to a Roth IRA.
  
  

Income Limits for Separate Filers

• The IRS' Roth IRA contribution limit for people who are married but filing separately is very low. If you lived with your partner at any point during the year, you can only make the maximum contribution if your MAGI is $0. If you make up to $10,000 you can make a partial contribution; earn any more than that, and you are phased out entirely. The IRS has this rule to prevent people from filing separately to avoid income limits for joint filers.
  
  

Conversion Loophole

• Roth IRA income limits prevent you from contributing if you earn too much. There are income limits for traditional IRAs as well, but these determine whether you are allowed to write off your contribution. If you earn too much, you can still make a nondeductible contribution to a traditional IRA. Prior to 2010, you could not make a Roth IRA conversion if your MAGI exceeded $100,000. As of 2011, this rule is no longer in effect. Therefore, there is nothing to prevent you from making a nondeductible contribution to a traditional IRA and immediately rolling the money into a Roth IRA, thereby skirting the IRS' Roth IRA income limits.