The deadline for contributing to your IRA is April 15 of year AFTER year for which contribution made. (Boy, I'm starting to sound like a lawyer now, aren't I?)

In other words, for Year 2002, you have until April 15, 2003 to put money into your IRA.

If you've already invested maximum (more about that in a moment) by December 31, 2002, then you're done. No more money can go into IRA for 2002.

But when January 1 rolls around, if you haven't mixed out your IRA, you have until April 15 to do so.

Which brings me to . . .

BENEFIT #3: The Maximum Contribution Amounts Have Increased

For many years, most you could put into an IRA was $2,000. Now, maximum is $3,000 (assuming you have at least that much earned income from wages or self-employment income).

And if you are over 49, you can put in another $500, bringing total maximum to $3,500.

A married couple, both age 50 or older, can put a whopping $7,000 per year into a Roth IRA. Not too shabby, eh?

One final note about these Roth IRA rules: For married people, you can only contribute maximum of $3,000 or $3,500 if your combined income is less than $150,000.

If you are single or head of household, you can contribute maximum if your income is less than $95,000.

(I hate rules like that, don't you!)

For most middle-class folks looking for a perfectly legal way to permanently avoid tax (rather then merely temporarily postpone tax), Roth IRA fits bill!

Now comes hard part -- how to actually implement this tax avoidance strategy.

"Wayne", you say, "I'm getting close to retirement and so my wife and I are trying to save as much as we can for our golden years. But $7,000 a year? It's hard to put aside that kind of money. We need every dollar we make just to pay bills."

If that's your situation, I'm not going to get up on my "what-do-you-mean-you-can't-save-any-money-for-retirement" soapbox and start preaching at you.

I will say this: You've got to start somewhere, and you've got to start saving something -- right now!

Don't put off saving for retirement. The longer you wait, harder it gets to get started.

People who have a problem saving for retirement usually have a budgeting problem. And budgeting is beyond scope of this article.

For an excellent resource on budgeting, I highly recommend Budget Stretcher web site: http://www.homemoneyhelp.com.

This site offers a free budget system complete with simple forms and worksheets to help you figure out how to put some money aside for a Roth IRA or other savings plan.

Take advantage of this free resource!