Spousal IRA?

[Bradfurd]

My wife had a 401k through her employer, but converted it to a Roth IRA when she stopped working to begin SAHM duties when our first was born in 2015.

I've had two investment pros tell me two different things, so I'm here asking:

Can we still contribute to this account even though it is in her name and she is not earning an income? What designates an account as a spousal IRA...or does it even need that formal designation?

[rubybeth]

Yes, you can contribute (the fact that you are the spouse and contributing to her IRA for her makes it a "spousal IRA") as long as you meet the other requirements: https://www.investopedia.com/retirement/making-spousal-ira-contributions/

[Hellohi]

My wife had a 401k through her employer, but converted it to a Roth IRA when she stopped working to begin SAHM duties when our first was born in 2015.

I've had two investment pros tell me two different things, so I'm here asking:

Can we still contribute to this account even though it is in her name and she is not earning an income? What designates an account as a spousal IRA...or does it even need that formal designation?

Vanguard told me previously that there is no formal designation.  My wife is a stay at home mom, I have not contributed to her account yet but plan to later this year. 

[terran]

Yes, you can contribute to an IRA for a spouse without earned income as long as the other spouse has enough earned income to justify both that contribution and any of their own contributions.

Whether or not one can contribute to a Roth IRA depends on one's income: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/amount-of-roth-ira-contributions-that-you-can-make-for-2019

Whether or not one can deduct a traditional IRA contribution depends on a few things (income, whether they have a workplace retirement plan, and whether their spouse has a workplace retirement plan): https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/ira-deduction-limits

As you'll see, since your wife is not covered by a retirement plan at work, but you presumably are, if your Modified Adjusted Gross Income is under $193k she can contribute either to a Roth or to a deductible traditional IRA. The deductible traditional IRA is likely the way to go unless you're close to that income limit and would like her to be able to make a backdoor Roth contribution in the future (contribute to non-deductible traditional IRA and rollover to Roth).

[Bradfurd]

Thanks everyone...much appreciated.