My husband and I both have Roth 401(k)s through our employers. However, because my employer does not match contributions, I set up a Roth IRA years ago and began contributing $300 per month, $3,600 per year. I thought that was fine, since it is well below the $6,000 allowed. I just learned about the MAGI limits. I have been overcontributing since 2019, and I’ve got to fix this. I have been reading past discussions on this topic, and I think I mostly understand how to take care of it, starting with recharacterizing the $3,600 plus earnings for 2022 and the $300 plus earnings that I contributed in January 2023. But the 6% penalty for the prior years is going to cost me. In 2020 and 2021, our MAGI was too high for me to make any contribution. However, in 2019, I could make a partial contribution. According to the worksheet in the 2019 IRS Publication 590-A, my reduced contribution was $1,190, which means my excess for that year was $2,410. Does that mean my husband also could have contributed $1,190 to a Roth IRA? Since he didn’t, can I reduce my excess of $2,410 by $1,190, making my excess for that year $1,220 instead of $2,410? Or is this just wishful thinking? I am getting this from a statement Alan made in an old post that says, “Note that if any distributions were taken or any years in which the spouse was eligible for a Roth contribution but did not make one will reduce the cumulative excess amount and therefore the 6% tax.” I know we are not taking about a huge difference, but this cumulative 6% is really starting to add up!