The New York City Employee IRA

Contributing to Your Roth NYCE IRA

Making a contribution to your Roth NYCE IRA is easy. You can make contributions of earned income, and you can roll over assets. Contributions can made via automatic payroll deductions or by using a Deposit Form and sending a check or money olrder.

Below are instructions for employees who wish to set up contributions via payroll:

• log into your account (you will need your username and password to access you account),
• navigate to Contributions & Savings,
• select Manage Contributions and enter the dollar amount you wish to contribute each pay period (minimum amount is $25). 

You can access your account online anytime to change the dollar amount of your contribution.

If you do not have a NYCE IRA account you can establish an account online or you can download the NYCE IRA Application from the Plan’s website.

To fund your Roth NYCE IRA via check or money order, complete a NYCE IRA Deposit Form and send the payment to the address stated on the form.  You can contribute as often as you like, but remember that you are responsible for making sure you do not contribute in excess of the IRA contribution limits.

Please note: Payroll deductions are applied to the calendar year in which they are contributed. You will still have up until the tax deadline in April to make contributions to the NYCE IRA. However, contributions for the prior year must be made by check or money order. The contribution limit for 2025 is $7,000, $8,000 if age 50 or older. 

In addition, you can roll over assets from another retirement plan to your Roth NYCE IRA account. See "Learn more about funding your Roth NYCE IRA using a rollover" for more information.

Contributions can be made to your Roth NYCE IRA at anytime during the year or by the deadline for filing your federal income tax return for that year, without including extensions. Contributions to the the NYCE IRA must be received by the NYCE IRA Administrator prior to the tax filing deadline.

Unlike a traditional IRA, you cannot deduct contributions to a Roth IRA. But, if you satisfy the requirements, Qualified Distributions are tax free. (See the Roth NYCE IRA Withdrawals section for detailed information.) Contributions can be made to your Roth NYCE IRA after you reach age 73 and you can leave amounts in your Roth NYCE IRA as long as you live.

Your eligibility to make contributions to the Roth NYCE IRA depends on whether or not you have taxable compensation and your adjusted gross income and tax filing status.

If you are not eligible to contribute to the Roth NYCE IRA, or your Roth contribution is in excess of the maximum annual IRA contribution limit, excess contributions must be distributed from the NYCE IRA prior to the tax return due date for the taxable year. If you fail to remove the amounts, you are subject to an annual 6-percent excise tax on those contributions.

The City of New York, its custodian, and service providers are not responsible for determining or tracking the cost basis (non-taxable contributions) to the Roth NYCE IRA.

A Roth NYCE Spousal IRA can be funded through contributions or rollovers.

• Contributions - Both the employee and the spouse can contribute to the Roth NYCE Spousal IRA as long as the couple files a joint return, and has enough taxable compensation to cover the contribution.
• Rollovers - A spouse can roll over assets into their Roth NYCE Spousal IRA from a Roth 401(k) plan or a Roth IRA. Assets can also be converted from a traditional IRA to the Roth NYCE Spousal IRA. Only retirement plans or IRAs in the spouse's own name are eligible for rollover into the NYCE Spousal IRA.

Learn more about funding your Roth NYCE IRA using a rollover
Download the NYCE IRA Deposit Form
Selecting Your Investments

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Taxable Compensation

Generally, taxable compensation is wages, salaries, tips, professional fees, bonuses, and other amounts you receive for providing personal services. You must have compensation to be eligible to make contributions to the Roth NYCE IRA. Compensation does not include any of the following items:

• Earnings and profits from property, such as rental income, interest income, and dividend income
• Pension or annuity income (including distributions from 457 plans, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans and IRAs)

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Contribution Limits

The contribution limit to your Roth NYCE IRA for 2025 will be the lesser of the following amounts:

• $7,000; or 
• Your taxable compensation for the year.

If you will be age 50 or over in 2025, the most that you can contribute to your Roth NYCE IRA will be the lesser of the following amounts:

• $8,000; or 
• Your taxable compensation for the year.

If you have more than one IRA, either traditional or Roth, the limit applies to the total contributions made on your behalf to all your IRAs for the year.