<prompt> Human: Quick, silly question. I worked over the last 3 summers and got a sizable income over those months. I never thought to open an IRA until this summer. Is there any way I can prove I earned money in those years and add money in now? This seems like it would be some kind of loophole, but I want to take advantage of every opportunity I have at contributing to my tax-free growth accounts. The money Ive earned from it is currently sitting in moderate growth mutual funds with low ERs, so I dont feel too bad. I was just wondering.Sorry if this is a dumb question!  <response>: Roth IRA contributions can only be made between January 1 of a given tax year and April 15th of the following tax year. For example, for 2013 you had between January 1, 2013 and April 15, 2014 to make your 2013 IRA contributions. Once April 15 passes, youre out of luck for that year. 