Individual Retirement Account Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
An Individual Retirement Account or IRA is a retirement plan account that provides some tax advantages for saving for retirement in the United States. There are a number of different types of IRAs, some being employer provided plans and others usually only being set up by an individual. The types include:
- Roth IRA - money is taxed before deposit, and then accumulates tax free on the earnings, and can be withdrawn tax free. Named for William Roth
- Traditional IRA - money is deposited before tax, money accumulates tax free on earnings until withdrawn at retirement, at which point the money is taxed.
- Rollover IRA - no real difference in tax treatment from a traditional IRA, but the funds come from another type of retirement plan and are "rolled over" into the rollover IRA instead of contributed as cash.
- Conduit IRA - Tool to transfer qualified investments from one account to another. In order to retain certain special tax treatments, funds may not be comingled with other types of assets, including other IRA's.
- SEP IRA - for self-employed individuals.
- SIMPLE IRA - A simplified employee pension plan similar to a 401(k) but with lower contribution limits and simpler administration.
IRA's can be funded with most types of securities, and some non security financial instruments. There are a few things that cannot be funded into an IRA. They include collectibles including valuable coins or bullion and life insurance. IRA's cannot generally hold real estate unless it is held as a form of security such as a real estate investment trust, or REIT.
Pedantics
Technically, the umbrella term for the concept is legally called an Individual Retirement Arrangement. The IRA can then either be an annuity or have a trust set up that meets specific criteria the IRS has specified. This trust and funding by financial instruments makes it an account, and thus the term "Individual Retirement Account", the most common name IRA's are known by. Even most professionals in the financial industry believe the common term is the correct one.