Contributing to Roth IRA while working in Germany

I'm exploring all the eventualities of a potential move to Germany.

I guess with the exchange rate like it is, why not keep contributing to my Roth IRA? I'll still have to retire someday, and as a general rule, one shouldn't stop saving. The difference I see is that payroll tax being what it is in Germany vs. the US, it's a much bigger hit and kind of lessens the overall value of doing a Roth. I plainly see that the amount gained by the Roth is independent of this. Am I even allowed to contribute to the Roth with foreign-earned funds?

As my Roth currently stands, $330 or so per month (or whatever adds up to the maximum) is deducted automatically from a US account, so I'd have to regularly feed this account using one of the methods discussed on TT like paypal or xe.com. I'd have to do this anyway for student loan repayment, too.

Thoughts?

You should contact a U.S. financial consultant. The advice I received when I moved here 6 years ago was that 'no, you cannot contribute to either a 401K or Roth IRA while living outside of the country and earning Euros'. Maybe he was wrong? I'd be interested in knowing myself.

Check out the IRS. Looks like you need a source of US taxable income.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc451.html

You will still have to file an annual tax return with the IRS, so you shouldn't have any trouble continuing your contributions, regardless of source. Max is $5,000 per year.

Unfortunately, if you have a 401k plan, that'll have to be put on ice until you return.

It looks like foreign-earned income comes into play in a few worksheets, but this page doesn't explicitly say no foreign-earned income. http://www.irs.gov/publications/p590/ch02.html