[Retirement Plan Guide] Roth IRA for Dummies: Some basics

I guess most of you are already aware of this: the best plan (and also the easiest way) of saving for retirement is through the Roth IRA. However, many people still think that Roth IRA is intimidating. Well let me tell you a secret: Roth IRA is not that confusing. It is pretty easy to understand. We will discuss the basics of Roth IRA here

Roth IRA for Dummies: Some basics on the Roth IRA

The Roth IRA is an individual retirement arrangement: It lets you save and invest for your future. An IRA is simply a holding account. It’s a label. When you own a Roth IRA, it contains nothing. It’s like a bucket, a place for you to put things. (Most people think of an IRA as an individual retirement account, which is fine, but it’s actually an “arrangement”.)

The things you put in your bucket are investments. You might, for example, buy a stock to put in your retirement account. Or maybe government bonds. Or certificates of deposit. The important thing to understand is that a Roth IRA is not an investment — it’s a place to put investments.

With many retirement accounts — such as 401(k)s and traditional IRAs — you contribute pre-tax money and are taxed when you take the money out during retirement. Because they work with after-tax money, earnings from a Roth IRA can be withdrawn tax-free at retirement.

Roth IRA rules and requirements
Because Roth IRAs are meant to encourage ordinary people to save for retirement, not everyone qualifies for them. If you do qualify, you can contribute up to $5,000 to your Roth IRA every year. If you’re 50 or over, you can contribute $6,000.

Who qualifies? Nearly everyone. However:

* If your tax filing status is single and you earn more than $105,000 per year, your contributions are restricted.
*
* If you’re married filing jointly, your contributions are limited if your household earns more than $160,000 per year.

You can use a Roth IRA even if you have a 401(k) or other retirement plan, but you must make your contributions by the tax deadline each year. (So, you have until 15 April 2010 to make your Roth IRA contribution for this year.)

The rules are a little more complex than that, but those are the basics. If you need more info, take a look at the resources listed at the end of this article.

Where to open a Roth IRA
Deciding where to start your Roth IRA is the most difficult part of the process. Many financial institutions offer IRAs. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Don’t fret about finding the perfect match — find a good match and then get started.

To make things simple, here are three big companies that provide Roth IRAs (though these are by no means your only options):

• Fidelity Investments offers a no-fee IRA. There’s a $2,500 minimum initial investment, but this is waived if you commit to $200/month automatic contributions. They offer 4,600 mutual funds, about a quarter of which have no transaction fee. In short, you can open a no-cost IRA at Fidelity with a $200 starting investment if you invest in mutual funds and you agree to contribute $200/month. Apply for a Roth IRA with Fidelity.
• It’s also possible to open a no-cost Roth IRA at The Vanguard Group if you elect to receive electronic statements. Otherwise, a $20 annual fee is charged until your Roth IRA balance is over $10,000. Your minimum to get started is $3,000 — except that you can start with just $1,000 in the company’s STAR fund. (The STAR fund is an mutual fund of mutual funds, a safe choice for beginners.) Additional contributions require a minimum of $100 unless you use their Automatic Investment Plan, in which case the minimum is $50. There are no fees to purchase the STAR fund. Start a Roth IRA at Vanguard.
• T. Rowe Price charges $10/year for Roth IRA accounts until you have a balance above $5,000, after which there is no fee. You need $1,000 to open your IRA, but this minimum goes away if you sign up to contribute at least $50/month with the Automatic Asset Builder. There are no sales fees or commissions to invest this money in T. Rowe Price mutual funds. Open an IRA at T. Rowe Price.

Opening a Roth IRA is easy. You’ll need some minimal bank account info and about 30-60 minutes of free time. If you’ve ever filled out a job application or applied for a credit card, you can certainly open a Roth IRA. Once you’ve completed your application, you can transfer money to the account. It might have to sit in a money market fund until you have enough saved to buy your first mutual fund, but that’s okay. You’re developing the saving habit!
Note: I’m a big fan of automatic investment plans. Most of these companies offer some sort of program that will pull money from your bank account every month to invest in stocks or mutual funds that you designate. By setting aside $50 or $100 or $500 in this way, saving becomes a habit.

Investments Options

Too bad I can’t tell you which investment should you choose. The main reason for this is that goals and risk tolerance vary for every person. The big rule is this: it is very important that you really do invest on something. So my suggestion is that you should spend some time to research (but remember my post about perfect vs good enough)

I think that’s about it when it comes to Roth IRA for dummies: a basic guide; please left comments and share your opinion under. Thanks.