No, there is no maximum income limit for a traditional IRA. Anyone can contribute to a traditional IRA, including those who wish to back their IRA with gold. While a Roth IRA has a strict income limit and people with incomes above it can't contribute at all, that rule doesn't apply to a traditional IRA backed by gold. However, this doesn't mean that your income doesn't matter at all. With a clandestine Roth IRA, a person makes a non-deductible contribution to a traditional IRA and then converts that account into a Roth IRA.
You can also make an IRA contribution for a spouse who doesn't work and doesn't receive any compensation, as long as you're married and file a joint return, and your compensation is equal to or greater than the amount of your contribution. You save the most if you don't have pre-existing traditional IRA balances that need to be included in your tax bill or if your employer's qualified plan allows the renewal of deductible IRA balances. The funds in the account will increase with deferred taxes until you make a withdrawal, which means it will still be beneficial to contribute to them. So instead of funding the IRA with pre-tax money (as is done with a traditional IRA) and then owing taxes when you withdraw the money, you deposit money you've already paid taxes on into the IRA and don't owe anything when you withdraw the money.
I think that not being able to contribute to a tax-deferred IRA or a Roth IRA should be a fairly low priority for a high-income person. If your income is above the traditional IRA limit, but below the Roth IRA limit, this is a great option. Transfer all your deductible IRAs to a traditional 401 (k) plan at work before starting the conversion process. This means that if you're retired and no longer receiving compensation, you can't make a contribution to an IRA, although you can transfer money from a 401 (k) to an IRA.
It's always helpful to save early, because the sooner you deposit money in accordance with the previous IRA contribution limits, the more time you have to grow with deferred taxes. If you or your spouse participate in a traditional qualified retirement plan at work that accepts the renewal of pre-tax (deductible) IRA balances, then you have another way to avoid taxes if you use the clandestine strategy to fund a Roth. Your actions and circumstances are identical to those of the first situation, except that you also have a traditional IRA reinvestment account that was fully funded by deductible contributions. If you can't contribute to a Roth IRA because your income is above that limit, you still have the option of contributing to a traditional, non-deductible IRA.
Traditional IRA contributions allow for a tax deduction in the year the contribution was made, either in full or in part. IRA account renewals and transfers don't count as contributions, so they won't affect your ability to fund an IRA. Under the prorated rule, IRA account conversions are taxed in proportion to the amount of taxable contributions from all of your IRA balances.
