can a 1yr old with income have a roth?

[Guest jrysavy]

My son is 1 and has done some baby modeling and we'd like to set up a roth for him... I'm not finding age limits anywhere. Also, if he has a separate tax return, does he, as a minor, fall outside of my income limit if I'm over the max allowed for a Roth? thanks.

[BPickerCPA]

There are no minimum or maximum age restrictions on setting up a Roth IRA. All you need is earned income and total income not over the income limitation. If your son has earned income you can set up a Roth for him. Your income does not come into play for the limitation.

Not every custodian will set one up for a minor, so look around.

[John G]

A 1 year old with an income. Bring it on!

Etrade in the past has not accepted minor child IRAs. Charles Schwab has accepted using a parent custodial setup. Not sure about others.

Suggestion: Any parent that owns a business may want to consider hiring their teenage children to do some modest work to justify a salary which enables them to start an early IRA. Negatives include: potential negative impact on college scholarships, SSN and medicare taxes, kid gets control over funds after they turn 18/21. Positive: great way to get a child interested in investing (McDonalds ussually has a coupon for food in the annual reports! A little easier sell than P/E ratios.) , and lots more years of tax free compounding.