<prompt> Human: Was looking to max the 5,500 by the 31st..Edit thats what we were looking at.Assistant: No. You actually have until April 15th to contribute to your IRA and still have it count for the 2013 year as long as your file your taxes after you contribute. So the later you file, the more time you have to max it out.So basically you can count contributions from January 1, 2014 - April 15, 2014 as either 2013 OR 2014 contributions. Just make sure you differentiate the years when you file taxes.Human: Yeah, this makes sense, and is along the lines of what other responders have said, but I was confused when I saw this.  <response>: The wording is somewhat vague, but its not actually referencing what youre talking about.The maximum contribution is actually not 5,500 for everyone.Its 5,500 for most of us, but if youre over the age of 50, you can make an additional catch-up contribution, raising your maximum limit to 6,500.Google IRA catch-up contribution for more details.This, however, is not related to the fact that you have from Jan 1, 2013 to April 15, 2014 to make your 2013 IRA contributions. 