Getting married and increasing income - Roth?

[Guest britishrn]

Read all about Roth IRAs at the Roth website but have a question which was not addressed....

I converted my IRA to a Roth IRA at the end of '98. I plan to marry soon and our combined income will then be over $170,000 p.a. Does this mean I can contribute to my Roth IRA up until the wedding date but not after? Or am I supposed to do something else with it?

Thank you for any brief answer to this....

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Brit

[BPickerCPA]

Your marital status is based upon the last day of the year, and applies to the entire year. In other words, if you get married on 12/31 at 11PM, you're considered married for the ENTIRE year.

In your case, if your combined income will be over $170K, you will NOT be able (nor will your spouse) to contribute any amount to a Roth in 1999.

This will not affect your 1998 conversion, except that the conversion income will now be on your joint return.

[Guest kathy o]

I am recently married, too, and discovered that while the combined AGI for married couples is $150,000 to contribute to a Roth, the limit is only $100,000 to convert to a Roth from a 401k/IRA. I see there is a proposal on the table to raise this limit from $100,000 to $1 million. Does anyone know if or when this is likely to pass, or if there is some way around this limit?