Yes, you can hold both a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA at the same time, but there are limits on how much you can contribute across both accounts combined each year.

The IRS treats your Roth and traditional IRAs as a single retirement savings vehicle when it comes to contribution limits. If you have both accounts, your total contributions to both cannot exceed the annual limit set by the IRS for your age group. For 2024, that limit is $7,000 per year if you are under 50, or $8,000 if you are 50 or older. The limit resets each January.

This means you could put $4,000 into a traditional IRA and $3,000 into a Roth IRA in the same year, but you cannot put $7,000 into each one. The combined total across all your IRAs—whether they are Roth, traditional, SEP-IRA, or SIMPLE IRA—cannot exceed that single annual cap.

Key Takeaways

  • Your combined contributions to all IRAs cannot exceed the annual IRS limit, which is $7,000 per year for most people in 2024.
  • You can split your contribution between a Roth and traditional IRA however you want, as long as the total does not exceed the limit.
  • You can withdraw from a traditional IRA and roll it into a Roth IRA (called a conversion) without it counting against your annual contribution limit.
  • Having both account types lets you diversify your tax treatment in retirement—some money grows tax-free, some grows tax-deferred.
  • If you have a workplace retirement plan like a 401(k), your ability to deduct traditional IRA contributions may be reduced or eliminated.

How the contribution limit works when you have both accounts

The annual contribution limit is a combined ceiling, not a per-account limit. The IRS does not care how many IRAs you own or what types they are—what matters is the total money you put in across all of them in a single tax year.

If you contribute $5,000 to a traditional IRA in January, you have $2,000 left of your annual limit. You could then contribute $2,000 to a Roth IRA and hit your cap. If you tried to contribute another $1,000 to either account, the IRS would treat the excess as an overcontribution, which triggers a 6 percent penalty tax each year the excess sits in your account.

You can change how you split your contribution from year to year. One year you might put all $7,000 into a traditional IRA. The next year you might split it $3,500 and $3,500 between the two. The choice is yours, as long as you track the total.

Converting money from traditional to Roth without hitting the limit

A Roth conversion is different from a regular contribution. When you convert money from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, you are moving money that is already in the traditional account—you are not adding new money from your paycheck or bank account. Conversions do not count against your annual contribution limit.

Here is how it works: You have $50,000 in a traditional IRA. You decide to convert $10,000 of it to a Roth IRA. That $10,000 moves from the traditional account to the Roth account. You still have your $7,000 annual contribution limit available if you want to add fresh money to either account.

The catch is that conversions are taxable. When you convert $10,000 from a traditional IRA to a Roth, you owe income tax on that $10,000 in the year you do the conversion. This is why conversions are a separate decision from regular contributions—they have tax consequences that regular contributions do not.

Why someone would want both account types

Having both a Roth and a traditional IRA gives you flexibility in how your retirement money is taxed. Money in a traditional IRA grows without being taxed each year, but you pay income tax on withdrawals in retirement. Money in a Roth IRA grows tax-free, and withdrawals in retirement are tax-free too—but you contribute money that has already been taxed.

If you expect to be in a higher tax bracket in retirement than you are now, a Roth makes sense because you lock in today's lower tax rate. If you expect to be in a lower bracket in retirement, a traditional IRA makes sense because you deduct the contribution now at a higher rate and pay tax later at a lower rate.

By having both, you can hedge your bet. You are not betting entirely on one tax scenario. You also have more flexibility in retirement—you can withdraw from whichever account makes the most sense in a given year based on your income and tax situation.

Limits on deducting traditional IRA contributions if you have a workplace plan

If you or your spouse have access to a workplace retirement plan like a 401(k), 403(b), or government 457 plan, your ability to deduct traditional IRA contributions phases out at higher income levels. This limit applies whether you actually contribute to the workplace plan or not—just having access to one affects your IRA deduction.

The income ranges where the deduction phases out depend on your filing status and whether your spouse has a workplace plan. For 2024, if you are single and have a workplace plan, the deduction begins to phase out at $77,000 of income and is completely gone at $87,000. These numbers change each year.

This phase-out does not affect Roth IRAs. You can always contribute to a Roth IRA regardless of workplace plan access, as long as your income is below the Roth contribution limit for your filing status.

What happens to required minimum withdrawals with both accounts

Once you turn 73, the IRS requires you to withdraw a minimum amount from your traditional IRAs each year. This is called a required minimum distribution, or RMD. The amount is based on your age and the total balance in all your traditional IRAs combined.

Roth IRAs do not have required minimum distributions while you are alive. You can leave money in a Roth IRA untouched for as long as you want, and your beneficiaries inherit it tax-free.

If you have both a traditional and a Roth IRA, you calculate your RMD based only on your traditional IRA balance. You can take the full RMD from one traditional IRA, split it across multiple traditional IRAs, or even take it from a different type of account like a SEP-IRA or SIMPLE IRA—but the total must equal what the IRS requires. Your Roth IRA balance does not factor into this calculation.

Keeping track of basis in traditional IRAs when you have both

If you have made nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA—money you contributed but could not deduct because your income was too high—you need to track this carefully when you have both a Roth and a traditional IRA.

The IRS uses a pro-rata rule when you convert money from a traditional IRA to a Roth. This rule says that a percentage of your conversion is taxable based on the ratio of pretax money to after-tax money across all your traditional IRAs. If you have $80,000 in pretax money and $20,000 in after-tax money in your traditional IRAs, then 80 percent of any conversion is taxable.

This can create a tax surprise if you are not paying attention. Many people think they can convert only the after-tax portion of a traditional IRA to a Roth tax-free, but the pro-rata rule prevents that. You need to know your basis—the amount of after-tax money you have contributed—to understand how much of a conversion will be taxable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I contribute to both a Roth and traditional IRA in the same year?

Yes, but your combined contributions cannot exceed the annual limit. If you contribute $4,000 to a traditional IRA, you can contribute up to $3,000 to a Roth IRA in the same year (assuming the $7,000 limit for 2024). You split the limit however you want between the two accounts.

Do I have to file anything special with the IRS if I have both accounts?

You do not need to file anything just for having both accounts. If you make a nondeductible contribution to a traditional IRA, you file Form 8606 with your tax return to report it. If you do a conversion, you report it on Form 8606 as well. Your brokerage or bank will send you statements for each account.

What if I want to close one of my IRAs?

You can close either account at any time. If you close a traditional IRA and do not roll the money into another retirement account, you owe income tax on any pretax money in it. If you close a Roth IRA, you can withdraw your contributions tax-free, but earnings are taxable unless you meet the withdrawal rules.

Can I have multiple Roth IRAs and multiple traditional IRAs?

Yes, you can have as many of each type as you want. The contribution limit still applies to the combined total across all of them. Having multiple accounts does not give you a higher limit—it just means you have to track contributions across more accounts.

If I convert from traditional to Roth, does that count against my contribution limit?

No. Conversions do not count against your annual contribution limit because you are moving money that is already in a retirement account, not adding new money from your income. You can convert any amount, but you will owe income tax on the amount converted in that tax year.