﻿ Roth Rules for Kids-Kiplinger   Roth Rules for Kids  Janet
Bodnar  Opening a Roth IRA for your children is a great idea,
but they must have earned income from a job -- allowances don't
count.  -- Can I open a Roth IRA for my child if I pay him an
allowance to do chores around the house?  -- We are paying our
eldest daughter to teach weekly piano lessons to her two younger
sisters. Can we keep a record of the money we have paid her and
match that amount in a Roth IRA for her?  No to the first
question, yes to the second.  Opening a Roth IRA for your child
is a great idea (see Why Your Kids Need a Roth IRA to learn
more). But you can't open one unless your child has earned
income from a job. And giving your child an allowance in return
for doing chores around the house doesn't count as earned
income.  It's legal to hire a child to do a specific job in your
home. But there's a fundamental difference between, say, a
domestic employee who regularly cleans your house and a child
who is asked to make his bed.   On