A Roth IRA is a true gift for retirement savers: While there’s no immediate tax benefit, withdrawals in retirement are completely tax-free.
There are three steps to starting a Roth IRA:
- Decide what type of investor you are. Hands-on or hands-off? If you like the idea of picking and managing your own investments, then a broker makes sense. If you want someone to choose the best investments for you, then a robo-advisor is probably a good idea.
- Choose a provider and open your Roth IRA. Your choice should align with your investor type above. Opening a Roth account is simple and generally only takes about 15 minutes.
- Select your investments. If you go with a broker, look for low-cost mutual funds and ETFs. If you choose a robo-advisor, they’ll pick these for you. (Most banks offer savings products, rather than investments, so they’re generally not the best place to open a Roth IRA, which should be geared toward long-term growth.)
Read on for more details on each of these steps.
1. Decide what type of investor you are
- If you’re a “do-it-yourself” investor, choose a brokerage. You can open a Roth IRA at an online broker and then choose your own investments. This may be simpler than you think — you can build a diversified portfolio with just three or four mutual funds. When comparing brokers, look at trade commissions and investment fees (also called expense ratios).
- If you’re a “manage it for me” investor, choose a robo-advisor. If you’d rather have someone pick an investment portfolio for you, you can open your Roth IRA at a robo-advisor. Robo-advisors are online services that build and maintain a diversified portfolio for you. You pay a small fee for the service, but their fees generally are far lower than a human financial advisor.
2. Choose a provider and open your Roth IRA
Best Roth IRA brokers for ‘do-it-yourself’ investors
For people who want to pick their own investments, opening a Roth IRA at an online broker makes a lot of sense. At the best brokers, you’ll find a large list of low-cost investments to choose from, including index mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. The top brokers also offer extensive retirement planning tools, robust customer service and reasonable account minimums and fees. And you maintain complete control over how your retirement funds are invested.
Here are two of the favorites from our analysis of the best Roth IRA accounts:
Number of low-expense-ratio mutual funds Number of no-trading-fee mutual funds Number of no-trading-fee ETFs Promotion
| Number of low-expense ratio mutual funds Number of no-trading-fee mutual funds Number of no-trading-fee ETFs Promotion
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Best Roth IRA robo-advisors for ‘manage it for me’ investors
For people who want to invest for retirement but don’t want to worry about managing their portfolio over time, a robo-advisor is an easy choice. Generally, robo-advisors hire investment pros to develop a handful of portfolios aimed at different types of investors. Some robos offer portfolios that vary based on amount of risk, with “aggressive” ones for people who want a high percentage of their portfolio in stocks and “conservative” for people who seek a less volatile investment account.
As an investor, all you have to do is open your Roth IRA, link your bank account and follow the steps the provider offers to build your portfolio. The robo-advisor then purchases the investments for you and manages the account over time. Many robos also offer services that can help maximize your savings, such as goal-setting tools to get your finances on track, and strategies to reduce your tax bill. (Robo-advisors generally are registered investment advisors, operating under a similar structure to human investment advisors.)
Here are two of the favorites from our analysis of the best Roth IRA accounts:
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Management fee 0.25% Investment expense ratios Access to financial advisors Promotion in assets managed for free. | Management fee Investment expense ratios Access to financial advisors Promotion of free management with qualifying deposit |
» Check out all of our top picks for best Roth IRA accounts
3. Select your investments
A Roth IRA is an account, not an investment. Contributing is just the first step. If you want to build wealth over time, you need to invest that money.
If you’re a hands-off investor, you can choose a robo-advisor and they’ll choose a diversified investment portfolio for you.
If you’re a DIY type, you can get that diversification on your own for less by building a portfolio out of index mutual funds and ETFs. To do that, you’ll want to decide how much of your money to put toward riskier investments, like stock funds, and how much you want to keep relatively safe, in bond funds and cash. This mix is called your asset allocation.
IRAs give you access to a large pool of investment options. Once you’ve decided on your allocation, you can select specific funds to meet that.
If you get stuck? Use a model. Check out the portfolios used by robo-advisors (often displayed on their websites), then mimic them, being sure to rebalance as needed since they won’t be doing it for you.
» Dig deeper: Check out these simple investments for retirement goals
Is that it?
That’s it. Except, a handful of considerations:
- Roth IRAs do have income limits, which can reduce or eliminate your ability to contribute to a Roth. Click below to see if you qualify. (If your income exceeds those limits, the backdoor Roth IRA strategy lets you open a Roth by converting money from a traditional IRA.)
These are the Roth IRA income limits for 2019 and 2020:
Filing status 2019 MAGI 2020 MAGI Maximum annual contribution Single, head of household or married filing separately (if you didn't live with spouse during year) Less than $122,000 Less than $124,000 $6,000 ($7,000 if 50 or older) $122,000 up to $137,000 $124,000 up to $139,000 Contribution is reduced $137,000 or more $139,000 or more No contribution allowed Married filing jointly or qualifying widow(er) Less than $193,000 Less than $196,000 $6,000 ($7,000 if 50 or older) $193,000 up to $203,000 $196,000 up to $206,000 Contribution is reduced $203,000 or more $206,000 or more No contribution allowed Married filing separately (if you lived with spouse at any time during year) Less than $10,000 Less than $10,000 Contribution is reduced $10,000 or more $10,000 or more No contribution allowed - If you have a 401(k) that offers matching dollars and you’re not contributing enough to earn them all, that’s where you should direct your retirement savings first.
- There are two main types of IRA: Roth and traditional. Traditional IRAs can come with an upfront tax break, but we generally recommend the Roth for those who qualify. Here’s why: Early withdrawal rules are much more flexible with a Roth, and there are fewer restrictions for retirees. Plus, unless you’re an extremely disciplined saver, you’ll end up with more after-tax money in a Roth IRA. Here’s more on a Roth vs. traditional IRA.
- Once you figure out how much you can contribute, consider setting up automatic transfers. Not only do you avoid the hassle of initiating the transfer each month, but you ensure you’re saving regularly. (Also, some brokers waive their initial deposit requirement if you agree to automatic transfers each month.)
- Be sure you don’t contribute too much. Contributing more than the limit may leave you subject to an IRS penalty. If your goal is to spread the $6,000 maximum over a year, contribute $500 a month in 2020. If you’re 50 or older, you can put in $583.33 a month. Keep in mind that the contribution limit is for all your IRA accounts combined — if you have a Roth and a traditional, that limit is a total across both accounts.
