There is no minimum age to open a Roth IRA. A five-year-old, a teenager, or an adult of any age can have one, as long as they have earned income. The IRS also eliminated the maximum age for contributions starting in 2020, so there is no upper cutoff either. The only real requirement is that the account holder (or the child the account is opened for) earned money during the year they contribute.
Why Earned Income Is the Only Real Requirement
The IRS does not set an age floor for Roth IRA eligibility. Instead, it ties eligibility to earned income. That means wages from a job, self-employment income, or money earned from gig work like babysitting, pet sitting, or mowing lawns. Investment income, allowances, and gifts do not count.
Your annual contribution cannot exceed the lesser of two numbers: the IRS contribution limit for the year or your total earned income. So if a 14-year-old earns $2,000 from a summer job, the most they can put into a Roth IRA that year is $2,000, even though the annual contribution limit is higher.
How Kids and Teenagers Can Open One
Minors cannot open brokerage accounts in their own name. Instead, a parent or legal guardian opens what is called a custodial Roth IRA. The adult manages the account and makes investment decisions until the child reaches the age of majority, which is 18 in most states. At that point, the account transfers to the child’s name and they take full control.
The money contributed must correspond to the child’s own earned income, but it does not have to come directly from the child’s paycheck. A parent can fund the contribution as long as the child earned at least that much during the year. For example, if your teenager earned $3,000 working a part-time job and spent all of it, you could contribute up to $3,000 to their custodial Roth IRA from your own bank account.
Keeping simple records of the child’s earnings is important. Pay stubs, invoices, or a log of jobs completed and amounts paid can all serve as documentation if the IRS ever questions whether the child had qualifying income.
Opening a Roth IRA as an Adult
If you are 18 or older, you can open a Roth IRA at most brokerages in a matter of minutes with a Social Security number, a government-issued ID, and a bank account for funding. There is no upper age limit. Whether you are 25 or 75, you can contribute as long as you have earned income and your income falls within the IRS phase-out thresholds.
The IRS sets income limits that reduce or eliminate your ability to contribute directly to a Roth IRA once your modified adjusted gross income crosses certain thresholds. These limits change annually and differ for single filers and married couples filing jointly. If your income exceeds the full phase-out range, you cannot make direct Roth IRA contributions that year, though a strategy known as a backdoor Roth conversion may still be available.
Why Starting Young Matters So Much
A Roth IRA’s biggest advantage is tax-free growth. You contribute money you have already paid taxes on, and the earnings grow without being taxed again, ever, as long as you follow the withdrawal rules. The earlier you start, the more years compounding has to work.
Consider a simple example. A $2,000 contribution made at age 16 that earns an average annual return of 7% would grow to roughly $46,000 by age 65, all tax-free. That same $2,000 contributed at age 30 would grow to only about $21,000 by the same age. The extra 14 years more than doubled the result, and the account holder never has to pay a cent of tax on those earnings.
When You Can Withdraw the Money
You can always withdraw your original contributions from a Roth IRA at any age, tax-free and penalty-free. The money you put in is yours to take back whenever you need it.
Earnings are a different story. To withdraw earnings without owing taxes or a 10% early withdrawal penalty, you need to meet two conditions: you must be at least 59½ years old, and the account must have been open for at least five years. If you opened a custodial Roth IRA at age 12, the five-year clock starts ticking from that first contribution year, giving you a significant head start.
Withdrawing earnings before 59½ generally triggers taxes and the 10% penalty on the earnings portion, though exceptions exist for certain situations like a first home purchase (up to $10,000 in earnings) or qualified education expenses.
What You Need to Get Started
- Earned income: The account holder must have earned money from work during the contribution year.
- A brokerage account: Major brokerages offer both standard and custodial Roth IRAs with no account minimums and no annual fees.
- A custodian (for minors): A parent or legal guardian must open and manage the account until the child reaches adulthood.
- Income below the phase-out threshold: Your modified adjusted gross income must fall within the IRS limits for direct Roth contributions. Most teenagers and young adults easily qualify since the limits are well into six figures.
Opening the account itself is free at most brokerages. There are no IRS fees for establishing a Roth IRA, and you can start with as little as a single dollar at many firms.