IRA minimum amounts changing?

[Guest pawelek]

I remebering hearing quite a bit last year about the government chainging the maximum investing amounts for IRAs. Eventually getting to $5000 a year instead of the $2000 currently. Anybody have some good info?

Thanks, P

[John G]

The bump up to 5k was proposed in the last Congress but the bill was never signed into law. Since the 2,000 max has been around since the 1970s, it is commonly viewed that an increase is in order and 5k is often proposed. This issue is part of the general negotiations over the Bush tax cut, and may surface either in the initial bill or in amendments. You may want to email your Congressional representatives of your interest in the higher amount.

At one time the increased max was going to be reserved for mid-life workers (I don't recall the details but maybe age 50+) who needed to boost their retirement savings.