How do I pick between Roth IRA and a traditional IRA?

There are different advantages for Roth IRAs and traditional IRAs, and what will work for you largely depends on your income and projected retirement plans. Once you sign up, we'll also give you direct guidance for you to consider on which account to fund when you set a retirement plan. Pro tip: If your income is too high for a direct Roth IRA contribution, you may want to learn more about a Back Door Roth IRA.

What other retirement accounts does Betterment offer?

Betterment offers traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and SEP IRAs for individuals. We do not offer SIMPLE IRAs. We support employers with Betterment 401(k) plans, giving employees access to both Roth 401(k) and traditional 401(k) plans.

How do I roll over funds to start my IRA?

Rolling over a qualified retirement account is a smart way to fund your IRA and to explore Betterment without dealing with taxable investments. It's a very common path for our customers. To roll over a retirement account, you can simply sign up, choose to start with retirement, and initiate a rollover into your retirement goal as a first step.

How do IRAs work with Betterment's goal-based investment system?

Your IRA and any other retirement accounts you have will be organized into your retirement goal, working together to reach your target retirement savings amount. Our portfolio advice allocates your money into stocks and bonds across the accounts within your goal when you agree to use Tax Coordination, which is a strategy that is designed to minimize tax impact on returns.

Grow your money tax-free with a Roth IRA

A Betterment Roth IRA is a great way to save for retirement beyond the 401(k).

Man with laptop showing Roth IRA dashboard

Why save with a Betterment IRA?

We make saving for retirement easy and optimized for your needs—from choosing the right IRA to low fees to multiple investment options.

Compare a Roth and traditional IRA to decide what’s right for you.
Our low fees help you save more money.
Transfer or convert an existing IRA without a tax impact.

We put your best interest first.

As a fiduciary, we're obligated to put your best interest ahead of our own. Which is just the way we like it. What a fiduciary means.
Trading managed for you.

We handle all the rebalancing and dividend reinvesting you'd do manually with an online broker, saving you valuable time. Experience our technology.
Choose from multiple investing portfolios.

Pick from multiple expert-built portfolios, from Socially Responsible Investing to Innovative Technology. See portfolio options.

A smart move no matter how much (or little) you think about retirement.

A Roth IRA allows your money to grow tax-free. We can create a plan to help you take advantage of this benefit by projecting your future income needs and showing you how you can save.

The easiest way to save for the long term is to automate it.

Set recurring deposits and our technology is designed to ensure you don't contribute beyond annual IRA limits.

Sit back and relax because Roth IRAs are flexible.

Because you contribute to a Roth IRA on an after-tax basis, the federal government allows greater flexibility for making withdrawals before retirement.

There are no tax penalties for withdrawing your deposits.

But you'll hit a 10% penalty on withdrawing any earnings before age 59½, so we still recommend keeping a separate emergency fund.
You can use up to $10,000 of earnings for a home down payment.

After 5 years of having a Roth IRA, you can withdraw earnings penalty-free if you're a first-time homebuyer.
You can convert traditional IRAs and 401(k) plans into your Roth IRA.

This can be a smart move for anyone who has accrued savings but would rather pay taxes now instead of once they're retired. You'll owe taxes in the year you make the conversion, so we recommend consulting a qualified tax advisor.

Grow your money tax-free with a Roth IRA

Why save with a Betterment IRA?

We put your best interest first.

Trading managed for you.

Choose from multiple investing portfolios.

A smart move no matter how much (or little) you think about retirement.

The easiest way to save for the long term is to automate it.

Sit back and relax because Roth IRAs are flexible.

There are no tax penalties for withdrawing your deposits.

You can use up to $10,000 of earnings for a home down payment.

You can convert traditional IRAs and 401(k) plans into your Roth IRA.

Save the tax-smart way with a Roth IRA.

Top questions about Roth IRAs