What is a Traditional IRA?
The Traditional IRA provides certain tax advantages when you set aside a portion of your earnings to build your retirement income. IRAs are individually owned variable accumulation annuity contracts that are available to all working and self-employed people and do not require employer sponsorship. If you satisfy certain income requirements, your contributions to a Traditional IRA are tax deductible. If you are not entitled to a tax deduction, you may make nondeductible contributions. If your spouse is not working and is under age 70 ½, you may be able to establish a spousal IRA and contribute to it on your spouse's behalf.

Who’s eligible?

		If you are under age 70 ½ with earned income and employed, you may currently contribute up to $5,000 (but not more than 100% of your compensation) to a Mutual of America Traditional IRA.
		If your spouse is not working and is under age 70 ½, you may also be able to establish a spousal IRA and contribute up to an additional $5,000 per year.
		Your income and whether or not you or your spouse are active participants in certain tax-qualified retirement plans will determine if you can deduct any, all or part of your IRA contributions from your federal taxes. Learn about tax advantages.

Contribution limits
Currently, the annual dollar limit for contributions and deductions to a Traditional IRA is limited to $5,000 or 100% of compensation, if less. Rules limiting or eliminating deductions for active participants in employer retirement plans based on federal adjusted gross income (AGI) levels apply to these limits.

The annual dollar limitation increases are as follows:

		For years 2005 through 2007 - $4,000
		For year 2008 - $5,000
		For year 2009 and subsequent year - $5,000 indexed for inflation in $500 increments

REMINDER: Indexing does not automatically increase the limit each year; increases only apply when the inflation-adjusted limit equals or exceeds the next incremental amount.

Learn more about Contributions & Withdrawals.

Age 50 catch-up contributions
The dollar limits (before any phase-out based on the modified AGI) are further increased by an additional amount for individuals who are age 50 or older at any time during the year (i.e., attain age 50 by December 31). The additional limit for 50-year-olds, or so-called "catch-up contribution" limit, is:

For year 2007 and subsequent years - $1,000 not indexed for inflation.

Thus, for example, the new IRA contribution limits for 2008 are:

		$5,000 for individuals under age 50
		$6,000 for individuals age 50 or older

For 2007, the limits were:

		$4,000 for individuals under age 50
		$5,000 for individuals age 50 or older

NOTE: Although the additional limit increase for 50-year-olds is referred to as a "catch-up contribution" limit, it does not require that the individual has contributed less than the maximum limit in prior years as other, traditional catch-up contribution rules do. The full additional age 50 contribution can be made even if maximum contributions have always been made in all prior years, subject to phase-out rules based on AGI.

Learn more about Features & Benefits.

Traditional IRA is a variable accumulation annuity contract and is issued on form 3814-IRA or a similar form specific to your state of residence. In the states of Maine, Oregon and Utah, the variable annuity contract is issued on form IRA-2004, or a similar form specific to your state of residence. This contract does not provide additional income-tax deferral advantages beyond those available in an IRA. You should carefully consider an annuity contract's other features before making a decision, as well as the potential for a loss of account value due to the Traditional IRA's variable investment choices.