<prompt> Human: Several Questions making sure Im understanding the process:1. An IRA has nothing to do with an employer? I.e. I, personally contribute to the IRA and the employer should be none the wiser? 2. If I am understanding question 1 correctly, this means there is no way to put un taxed money into an IRA. So a huge difference between an IRA and, say, and employer 401k is that money in an IRA is taxed at the beginning and money in a 401k is taxed at the end when Im retired and withdrawing from it.3. If my wife has maxed out the IRA in her name, can she also contribute to mine? Or does that count as going over for her?4. IF the answer to 3 is no she cannot contribute to mine. If we are just contributing out of a joint checking account, how do you know if its me or my wife contributing to the IRA. Should we have separate accounts? Or is there just no way around only having one IRA per household.Im sorry if this sounds dumb. I did read the wiki and still had some questions. Thank you PF  <response>: 1. Yes, IRA is individual account, not related to your employer.2. If you are able to deduct the contribution you make to an IRA, its not really taxed money that is going into it. In a sense, what you put in is physically money that you got from paycheck after all withholding and other taxes were taken out. But when you file your taxes, you deduct your contribution so it gets removed from your income and doesnt form part of whats called taxable income. Do not think of traditional IRA contribution as being taxed at beginning. A traditional IRA and traditional 401k are similar in that money that goes in hasnt been taxed; and will be taxed later when you take it out. There is another kind of IRA where you actually do contribute already-taxed money, i.e. dont get to deduct your contribution when you do your taxes -- thats called Roth IRA and because you paid taxes on the money didnt get a deduction that went in, you get to take money out later tax-free.3. Spouse is allowed to help you contribute to your IRA. This is a special benefit for married people. You dont even have to have earned income in order for both of you to max out your IRAs. See Kay Bailey Hutchison spousal IRA info in Pub 590-A. link4. Your two IRAs are actually independent accounts. But she can contribute into your account without violating the annual limits. Just dont put more than 5500 in hers or more than 5500 in yours. 