You need earned income to make a contribution to an individual retirement account. The IRS defines earned income as it is associated with a W-2 reporting as "wages, salaries, tips and other employee pay..." Furthermore, the pay must be taxable. So it would seem the operative question here is if you consider yourself an employee. It would seem you are not, as you mention you are retired. So it is not likely the imputed income would qualify as Earned Income .