When Is The Roth IRA Deadline, And Do I Still Have Time To Contribute?

2010 April 3

by Kyle

from → 401k/IRA

Many Americans are facing tough economic times, but thankfully, some are still able to pay into their IRA and other retirement accounts. If you still have some money left over to help secure your financial future, you should look into maxing out your Roth IRA since outside of funding an emergency fund, keeping cash laying around is generally a poor investment decision. But what happens if you aren’t able to max out your Roth IRA by December 31st?

Don’t fret, because the Roth IRA deadline is actually April 15th of your current year, for the previous tax year. Because you are capped on the amount that you are able to pay into the account, you’re going to need to make sure that whatever you are able to put in, has actually been contributed to it. When tax time rolls around, you should begin examining your portfolio, and making sure that it is at its limit. If you don’t hit the max, you aren’t going to receive the amount during retirement that you would have otherwise.

So how is your year determined? Usually from January 1st, to December 31st of the previous year is outlined as your Roth IRA contribution period. Your limit should be met during this time period, however, if you fail to do so, you can still get the contributions made up until April 15th of the year you’re currently in. These contributions help during your tax filing, and if you fall into the group that failed to make their yearly caps, you’re going to want to hold off on filing your papers until you get the contribution limits met.

Another reason you should get your contributions met by the Roth IRA deadline is that you’re going to have to start paying on the current years caps. Before you start putting in for the current fiscal year, it is a very wise decision to meet all of your previous tax years contributions, and then begin planning ahead. This will help you avoid cutting yourself short and not actually getting the amounts paid in that you had initially planned for.