Spousal IRA

Spousal IRA

An individual retirement account in the name of an unemployed spouse.

Spousal IRA

An IRA where the beneficiary the spouse of the person making the contributions. This provides a steady stream of income for the spouse after the contributor's retirement or death, especially when he/she has little or no other income. This is especially useful should the spouse who earns the income die prematurely. A spousal IRA has the same terms as any other IRA and may be either a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA.

spousal IRA

An individual retirement account in the name of a nonworking spouse. A spousal IRA may be funded by the working spouse up to a maximum amount established by law. There is also a limit on annual contributions to the combination of IRAs of the working and nonworking spouses.