What Is a Roth IRA? Guide to Getting Started

What Is a Roth IRA?

A Roth IRA is an individual retirement account (IRA) that allows qualified withdrawals on a tax-free basis provided certain conditions are satisfied. Established in 1997, it was named after William Roth, a former Delaware Senator.

Roth IRAs are similar to traditional IRAs, with the biggest distinction between the two being how they’re taxed. Roth IRAs are funded with after-tax dollars; the contributions are not tax-deductible. But once you start withdrawing funds, the money is tax-free. Conversely, traditional IRA deposits are generally made with pretax dollars; you usually get a tax deduction on your contribution and pay income tax when you withdraw the money from the account during retirement.

This and other key differences make Roth IRAs a better choice than traditional IRAs for some retirement savers.

Understanding Roth IRAs

Similar to other qualified retirement plan accounts, the money invested within the Roth IRA grows tax-free. However, a Roth is less restrictive than other accounts in several ways. Contributions can continue to be made at any age, as long as the account holder has earned income. The account holder can maintain the Roth IRA indefinitely; there are no required minimum distributions (RMDs) during their lifetime, as there is with 401(k)s and traditional IRAs.

A Roth IRA can be funded from a number of sources:

All regular Roth IRA contributions must be made in cash (which includes checks); they can't be in the form of securities or assets. However, a variety of investment options exist within a Roth IRA once the funds are contributed, including mutual funds, stocks, bonds, ETFs, CDs, and money market funds.

The IRS limits how much can be deposited in any type of IRA, adjusting the amounts periodically. The contribution limits are the same for traditional and Roth IRAs.

The maximum annual contribution an individual can make to a Roth IRA in 2020 remains the same in 2021. Those 50 years old and up can contribute up to $7,000.

Opening a Roth IRA

A Roth IRA must be established with an institution that has received IRS approval to offer IRAs. These include banks, brokerage companies, federally insured credit unions, and savings and loan associations. Generally, individuals open IRAs with brokers.

A Roth IRA can be established at any time. However, contributions for a tax year must be made by the IRA owner’s tax-filing deadline, which is generally April 15 of the following year. Tax-filing extensions do not apply.

On March 17, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that the federal income tax filing due date for all taxpayers for the 2020 tax year will be automatically extended from April 15, 2021, to May 17, 2021. This pushes other tax-related deadlines back as well; for example, the deadline to make IRA contributions is usually April 15, but taxpayers will have extra time this year.

Taxpayers impacted by the 2021 winter storms in Texas will have until June 15, 2021, to file various individual and business tax returns, make tax payments, and make 2020 IRA contributions. (The IRS's extension for victims of the 2021 winter storms was announced on Feb. 22, 2021.)

There are two basic documents that must be provided to the IRA owner when an IRA is established:

These provide an explanation of the rules and regulations under which the Roth IRA must operate, and establish an agreement between the IRA owner and the IRA custodian/trustee.

Not all financial institutions are created equal. Some IRA providers have an expansive list of investment options, while others are more restrictive. Almost every institution has a different fee structure for your Roth IRA, which can have a significant impact on your investment returns.

Your risk tolerance and investment preferences are going to play a role in choosing a Roth IRA provider. If you plan on being an active investor and making lots of trades, you want to find a provider that has lower trading costs. Certain providers even charge you an account inactivity fee if you leave your investments alone for too long. Some providers have more diverse stock or exchange traded fund offerings than others; it all depends on the type of investments you want in your account.

Pay attention to the specific account requirements as well. Some providers have higher minimum account balances than others. If you plan on banking with the same institution, see if your Roth IRA account comes with additional banking products. If you're looking at opening a Roth at a bank or brokerage where you already have an account, see whether existing customers receive any IRA fee discounts.

Are Roth IRAs Insured?

If your account is located at a bank, be aware IRAs fall under a different insurance category than conventional deposit accounts. Therefore, coverage for IRA accounts is not as robust. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) still offers insurance protection up to $250,000 for traditional or Roth IRA accounts, but account balances are combined rather than viewed individually.

For example, if the same banking customer has a certificate of deposit held within a traditional IRA with a value of $200,000 and a Roth IRA held in a savings account with a value of $100,000 at the same institution, the account holder has $50,000 of vulnerable assets without FDIC coverage.

What Can You Contribute to a Roth IRA?

The IRS dictates not only how much money you can deposit in a Roth, but the type of money you can deposit. Basically, you can only contribute earned income to a Roth IRA.

For individuals working for an employer, compensation that is eligible to fund a Roth IRA includes wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, and other amounts paid to the individual for the services they perform. It's generally any amount shown in Box 1 of the individual's Form W-2. For a self-employed individual or a partner in a partnership, compensation is the individual’s net earnings from their business, less any deduction allowed for contributions made to retirement plans on the individual’s behalf and further reduced by 50% of the individual’s self-employment taxes.

Money related to divorce — alimony, child support, or in a settlement — can also be contributed.

So what sort of funds aren't eligible? The list includes:

You can never contribute more to your IRA than you earned in that tax year. And, as previously mentioned, you receive no tax deduction for the contribution — although you may be able to take a Saver's Tax Credit of 10%, 20%, or 50% of the deposit, depending on your income and life situation.

Who's Eligible for a Roth IRA?

Anyone who has taxable income can contribute to a Roth IRA — as long as they meet certain requirements concerning filing status and modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). Those whose annual income is above a certain amount, which the IRS adjusts periodically, become ineligible to contribute. The chart below shows the figures for 2020 and 2021.

Do You Qualify for a Roth?

Category

Income Range for 2020 Contribution

Income Range for 2021 Contribution

Married and filing a joint tax return

Full: Less than $196,000
Partial: From $196,000 to less than $206,000

Full: Less than $198,000
Partial: From $198,000 to less than $208,000

Married, filing a separate tax return, lived with spouse at any time during the year

Full: $0
Partial: Less than $10,000

Full: $0
Partial: Less than $10,000

Single, head of household, or married filing separately without living with spouse at any time during the year

Full: Less than $124,000
Partial: From $124,000 to less than $139,000

Full: Less than $125,000
Partial: From $125,000 to less than $140,000

These individuals must use a formula to determine the maximum amount they may contribute to a Roth IRA. An individual who earns less than the ranges shown for his or her appropriate category can contribute up to 100% of his or her compensation or the contribution limit, whichever is less. 

Individuals within the phase-out range must subtract their income from the maximum level and then divide that by the phase-out range to determine the percentage of $6,000 they are allowed to contribute.

The Spousal Roth IRA

One way a couple can boost their contributions: the spousal Roth IRA. An individual may fund a Roth IRA on behalf of their married partner who earns little or no income. Spousal Roth IRA contributions are subject to the same rules and limits as regular Roth IRA contributions. The spousal Roth IRA must be held separately from the Roth IRA of the individual making the contribution, as Roth IRAs cannot be joint accounts.

For an individual to be eligible to make a spousal Roth IRA contribution, the following requirements must be met:

Withdrawals: Qualified Distributions

At any time, you may withdraw contributions from your Roth IRA, both tax- and penalty-free. If you take out only an amount equal to the sum you've put in, the distribution is not considered taxable income and is not subject to penalty, regardless of your age or how long it has been in the account. In IRS-speak, this is known as a qualified distribution.

However, there's a catch when it comes to withdrawing account earnings — any returns the account has generated. For distribution of account earnings to be qualified, it must occur at least five years after the Roth IRA owner established and funded his/her first Roth IRA, and the distribution must occur under at least one of the following conditions:

The 5-Year Rule

Withdrawal of earnings may be subject to taxes and/or a 10% penalty, depending on your age and whether you've met the 5-year rule. Here's a quick rundown.

If you meet the 5-year rule:

If you don’t meet the 5-year rule:

Roth withdrawals are made on a FIFO basis (first in, first out) — so any withdrawals made come from contributions first. Therefore, no earnings are considered touched until all contributions have been taken out first.

Withdrawals: Non-Qualified Distributions

A withdrawal of earnings that do not meet the above requirements is considered a non-qualified distribution and may be subject to income tax and/or a 10% early-distribution penalty. There may be exceptions, however, if the funds are used:

Note that if you withdraw only the amount of your contributions made within the current tax year — including any earnings on those contributions — the contribution is reversed. For example, If you contribute $5,000 in the current year and those funds generate $500 in earnings, you can withdraw the $5,000 principal tax-free and penalty-free and the $500 gain will be treated as taxable income.

Roth IRA vs. Traditional IRA

Whether or not a Roth IRA is more beneficial than a traditional IRA depends on the tax bracket of the filer, the expected tax rate at retirement, and personal preference.

Individuals who expect to be in a higher tax bracket once they retire may find the Roth IRA more advantageous since the total tax avoided in retirement will be greater than the income tax paid in the present. Therefore, younger and lower-income workers may benefit the most from the Roth IRA. Indeed, by beginning to save with an IRA early in life, investors make the most of the snowballing effect of compound interest: Your investment and its earnings are reinvested and generate more earnings, which are reinvested, and so on.

Consider opening a Roth over a traditional IRA if you are more interested in tax-free income when you retire than in a tax deduction now when you contribute.

Of course, even if you expect to have a lower tax rate in retirement, you'll still enjoy a tax-free income stream from your Roth. Not the worst idea in the world.

Those who don't need their Roth IRA assets in retirement can leave the money to accrue indefinitely and pass the assets to heirs tax-free upon death. Even better, while the beneficiary must take distributions from an inherited IRA, they can stretch out tax deferral by taking distributions for a decade and, in some specialized cases, for their lifetimes. Traditional IRA beneficiaries, on the other hand, do pay taxes on the distributions. Also, a spouse can roll over an inherited IRA into a new account and not have to begin taking distributions until age 72.

Some open or convert to Roth IRAs because they fear an increase in taxes in the future, and this account allows them to lock in the current tax rates on the balance of their conversions. Executives and other highly compensated employees who are able to contribute to a Roth retirement plan through their employers [for example, a Roth 401(k)] can also roll these plans into Roth IRAs with no tax consequence and then escape having to take mandatory minimum distributions when they turn 72.