If you've been told you make too much to open a Roth IRA, that number just moved again.
The IRS quietly raised the income thresholds for 2025, and the new ceilings are high enough that some savers who were locked out last year may now qualify.
For 2025, single filers can make a full Roth contribution if their modified adjusted gross income stays under $150,000, up from $146,000 in 2024.
Married couples filing jointly get a full contribution up to $236,000, up from $230,000.
The phase-out ranges also shifted, meaning partial contributions are still possible above those marks.
The phase-out isn't a cliff — it's a sliding scale.
Single filers lose the ability to contribute entirely once their income tops $165,000.
For married couples filing jointly, the door closes at $246,000.
Between those floors and ceilings, the amount you can put in shrinks gradually.
Because the contribution limit itself also went up, to $7,000 for those under 50 and $8,000 for anyone 50 or older.
That's real money that can grow tax-free for decades, and a Roth is one of the few retirement accounts where you never pay taxes on qualified withdrawals.
The catch most people miss is what counts as income.
Your MAGI for Roth purposes isn't just your salary.
It includes bonuses, taxable investment gains, and certain deductions added back in.
A year-end bonus or a good stock year can push you over a threshold you thought you'd cleared in January.
If you're near the line, waiting until you file your taxes is the safer play.
You have until the tax filing deadline to make a prior-year contribution, so you can calculate your actual MAGI first and avoid the penalty for over-contributing.
You can withdraw the excess plus earnings before the deadline, or recharacterize the money into a traditional IRA.
The recharacterization route keeps the cash invested and avoids the 6% excise tax the IRS charges on excess contributions every year they stay in the account.
One more wrinkle: if you're married filing separately, the phase-out range is tiny — $0 to $10,000 — which effectively shuts most separate filers out of direct Roth contributions.
There's also the backdoor Roth, which high earners have used for years.
You contribute to a traditional IRA with after-tax dollars, then convert it to a Roth.
It's legal, but it comes with pro-rata rules if you hold other pre-tax IRA money, so the math isn't always clean.
The takeaway is simple: check your projected MAGI before you contribute, not after.
The limits rose, but so did a lot of paychecks, and the last thing you want is a tax headache on money you meant to grow tax-free. **The bottom line:** These annual adjustments are small, but they're a reminder that retirement rules are not static.
Final Thoughts
If your income jumped this year, run the numbers before you write that check — a five-minute calculation can save you a penalty and a phone call to your broker.