Rollover IRA vs traditional IRA (can I make contributions to the rollover IRA?)

It is possible that some rollover IRAs (from a 401k for instance), can in future be rolled into a new employer's like-kind retirement plan. If you are able to contribute to this IRA in the intermittent time frame, it may no longer qualify for the future rollback because it contains commingled funding.

Rollover IRA is a "marketing term" created by the financial industry. A rollover Ira is a traditional ira. The tax treatment is what matters.

You can "rollover" funds from a 401k into a traditional ira or rollover ira, it makes no difference.

You can contribute to the rollover/traditional ira if you MAGI is to high and just wont be able to claim the deduction. You did get the tax deferred growth. After contributing you may want to consider a roth conversion (consult your tax adviser- This is a gray area form IRS treatment which hasn't been ruled on. ) as you arn't really getting any tax deduction benefit from the traditional ira so you can at least get tax free growth in the roth.

My 401k custodian emailed me this information a few years ago:

The IRS now says that a Traditional IRA and a Rollover IRA are the same account and follow the same rules. This means that you could make a contribution to your Rollover IRA. The only issue you may run into down the road (and it has nothing to do with the title of the account) is that if you ever want to roll your 401k funds back into a 401k, the plan administrator has the right to deny those funds if you have contributions mixed in with the original 401k funds. Most will not, but they have the option that they could. If you have any doubt about this, I would suggest opening a separate Traditional/Rollover IRA to make contributions to.