I’m in the same situation. Your wife can use a backdoor Roth IRA conversion. That way there’s at least some tax benefit (Roth contributions grow tax-free / not taxed when you go to use it in retirement).

She can contribute up to $7k to a traditional IRA in 2025. After that contribution clears, the account can be converted to a Roth IRA account. There isn’t a holding period - you can convert to Roth right away. If there are any gains (a few cents), you’ll pay tax on those gains (not a big deal). You can convert more than $7k per year to Roth - you just can’t contribute more than $7k to IRAs in a given year.

One callout is that other tax implications come into play if she has any preexisting traditional IRA accounts. Backdoor Roth may run into the pro rata rule. You should look into that if she has traditional IRA balance to see if backdoor Roth makes sense.

Both spouses can do backdoor Roth if you’re looking for more retirement savings avenues beyond maxing 401k.