The Roth IRA has one rule that quietly makes it the most powerful account a teenager can open: contributions are limited to earned income. As soon as your child has a real job — babysitting, lawn care, a summer position with W-2 wages — they're eligible to contribute up to the amount they earned, capped each year by the IRS limit.
The money does not have to come from the teenager's own paycheck. Many families let the child keep their earnings for visible spending and gift the matching contribution to the Roth so that the long-term account still gets funded. The IRS does not care where the dollars came from, only that the child has earned income to support the contribution.
Run the compounding math once with your child sitting next to you. A few thousand dollars contributed at age sixteen, left untouched, grows into a meaningful account by retirement age — entirely tax-free. The point isn't the eventual dollar figure. The point is that they will remember the conversation, and they will know, at sixteen, that they already own something.
Educational content only. Nothing in this lesson constitutes legal, tax, or investment advice. Insurance products are governed by the policy contract issued by the carrier.