IRA Max Out Disclosures

Updated: November 18, 2024

The IRA Max Out Tool is intended to help you decide whether you are eligible to make contributions to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) for a particular tax year and, if so, whether a Roth or traditional IRA is best for you. If you provide us with inaccurate or incomplete information about contributions that you have made to non-Betterment accounts, our recommendations will not reflect your personal situation.

In some cases, it may be better to fully fund an employer-sponsored retirement plan before funding an IRA. For guidance on that choice, please use our retirement savings advice found in Retirement goals. If your employer plan—such as a 401(k)—includes a match, we generally recommend contributing to your 401(k) before contributing to IRAs.

This Tool does not consider the impact of Required Minimum Distributions or early withdrawal penalties that may apply to IRAs.

This Tool assumes that there will not be changes in the legal treatment of IRA contributions or individual income tax rates. Any such changes could impact our recommendations.

This Tool assumes all income is earned income. If your tax rate is assumed to be the same in retirement as it is now, we recommend a Roth IRA. 

To prevent possible over-contribution penalties, this Tool limits your total suggested IRA contributions based on the amount you input in the income text field. As a result, the Tool may understate the amount you can actually contribute.

This Tool does not factor in any IRA contributions your spouse has made. Such contributions could further limit the total amount you may contribute to your own IRA because your combined contributions cannot exceed your combined earned income.

This Tool does not address whether your IRA contribution is tax deductible and should not be considered personal tax advice, as Betterment is not a tax advisor. You should contact a qualified tax advisor to understand your personal tax situation.