Standout Accounts For Retirement Investing
To open an IRA, you’ll first need a brokerage account, which you can set up in about 15 minutes. Then, once you’ve added money to the account, you can find and select low-cost investments to choose from. One of the easiest ways to open an IRA is through an online stockbroker. After opening and funding your IRA account, you can buy funds through the broker’s website in a matter of minutes. To make the search easier, we created this shortlist of picks from our partners.
NerdWallet, Inc. is not an investment advisor and does not provide advice, brokerage services, or recommendations to buy or sell particular stocks or securities.
| Broker | NerdWallet rating | Promotion | Fees | Account minimum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
5.0/5 Excellent for retirement planning tools | None no promotion available at this time | $0 no account fees to open a Fidelity retail IRA | $0 no account fees to open a Fidelity retail IRA | |
5.0/5 Excellent for advanced investors | None no promotion available at this time | $0 per trade | $0 | |
4.5/5 Excellent for Excellent for general stock trading | None no promotion available at this time | $0 on trades of stocks, ETFs and their options. Other fees may apply. | $0 | |
4.6/5 Excellent for advisor access | Get up to $1,000 in stock when you open & fund a new Active Invest account. Limited time offer. Terms & Conditions Apply. | $0 per trade | $0 | |
5.0/5 Reviewed in: Oct. 2025 Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2025 | Get a $50 customer bonus when you fund your first taxable investment account | 0.25% management fee | $500 |
| Broker | NerdWallet rating | Fees | Account minimum | Promotion | Learn more | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5.0/5 Excellent for retirement planning tools | $0 no account fees to open a Fidelity retail IRA | $0 no account fees to open a Fidelity retail IRA | None no promotion available at this time | Learn moreon Fidelity's website | ||
5.0/5 Excellent for advanced investors | $0 per trade | $0 | None no promotion available at this time | Learn moreon Interactive Brokers' website | ||
4.5/5 Excellent for Excellent for general stock trading | $0 on trades of stocks, ETFs and their options. Other fees may apply. | $0 | None no promotion available at this time | Learn moreon Robinhood's website | ||
4.6/5 Excellent for advisor access | $0 per trade | $0 | Get up to $1,000 in stock when you open & fund a new Active Invest account. Limited time offer. Terms & Conditions Apply. | Learn moreon SoFi Invest®'s website | ||
5.0/5 Reviewed in: Oct. 2025 Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2025 | 0.25% management fee | $500 | Get a $50 customer bonus when you fund your first taxable investment account | Learn moreon Wealthfront's website AD Paid non-client promotion |
What is an IRA?
An individual retirement account (IRA) is a tax-advantaged investment account used to save money for retirement. Depending on the type of IRA, contributions grow on either a tax-free or tax-deferred basis.
While an IRA may be especially attractive to those who don't have access to a 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement plan, anyone with earned income is eligible to open an IRA as another way to save for retirement.
If you want to invest through an IRA for retirement, you'll need to open an account first. This can be done at a financial institution, such as a bank or online broker.
How does an IRA work?
An IRA works by taking contributions (up to an annual limit set by the IRS) and investing that money into assets such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds or ETFs.
How your account balance grows over time depends on how much you contribute to the IRA and how you invest. As the account holder, you can choose if you want a hands-on approach by selecting your own investments or if you'd like to be hands-off and let others, such as a robo-advisor or financial planner, do the work for you.
There are several types of IRAs, including traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs for individuals, which offer different tax advantages. There's also the SEP IRA and SIMPLE IRA for business owners and self-employed individuals. While you can have and contribute to more than one type of IRA, the accounts share a combined annual limit set by the IRS every year.
Lastly, because IRAs are intended to be used for retirement, there are also strict withdrawal rules: You may face a 10% penalty and income taxes if you withdraw money from a traditional IRA before age 59 ½, unless you qualify for an exception.
To recap our selections...
NerdWallet's Standout Accounts For Retirement Investing- Fidelity IRA: Excellent for retirement planning tools
- Interactive Brokers IBKR IRA: Excellent for advanced investors
- Robinhood: Excellent for Excellent for general stock trading
- SoFi Active Investing: Excellent for advisor access
- Wealthfront IRA