Retirement

It's never too early to start investing for your retirement. With the ShareBuilder IRA, it's simple to make retirement planning a part of your monthly budget. Instead of funding your IRA all at once, in a ShareBuilder account you can set up an automatic, recurring investment plan for the current tax year (or a one-time investment for a prior year). Invest weekly or monthly – you decide!

Types of IRAs available:

• Traditional IRA
• Rollover IRA
• Roth or Conversion IRA

A Traditional Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA) is an investment account geared for investors who want to build a nest egg for retirement. You're allowed to stash away a set amount every year. Plus, interest, dividends, and capital gains in the account aren't taxed until you withdraw the funds. As a bonus, some contributions you make into a Traditional IRA are tax-deductible.

A Rollover IRA is used to hold assets that were previously held in an employer's retirement plan, like a 401(k). There is no limit on the amount you can roll over.

Tip: For specific information about Traditional/Rollover IRAs and tax related questions, please consult a tax advisor and review IRS publication 590.

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A Roth Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA) is one of the more recent investment options available to help individuals prepare for retirement. To open and contribute to a Roth IRA, customers must meet certain eligibility requirements set by the IRS, and the amount that can be contributed each year is limited.

Roth IRA contributions are made after-tax, but earnings are not taxed, and neither are eligible withdrawals.

Tip: Contribution limits indicate the total amount a taxpayer may annually contribute to their combined IRA accounts. For specific or tax-related questions about Roth IRAs, please consult a tax advisor and review IRS Publication 590.

A Roth Conversion IRA is an account that is used to hold assets converted from a Traditional or Rollover IRA.

Tip: The amount converted from a Traditional or Rollover IRA is subject to regular income taxes in the year of conversion. For specific or tax-related questions about Roth Conversion IRAs, please consult a tax advisor and review IRS Publication 590.

Nope. Nada. Zilch. Administration fees just don't jive with us. There is no administration charge for your IRA or ESA.

The IRS sets the yearly contribution limit, and the maximum amount you contribute varies from year to year. As a bonus, individuals over the age of 50 can make a "Catch Up Contribution," which is a higher dollar amount than the normal, maximum yearly contribution.

Tip: If you own multiple IRAs, the annual contribution limit applies to all IRAs you own.

Tip: If your total earned income for a tax year is less than the maximum contribution amount, you may not contribute in excess of your total earned income for that year.

Lastly, payment of the pricing program's monthly subscription and trade commissions count toward the annual contribution limit.

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If you have a Roth IRA and have discovered you were not eligible to have one for a particular tax year, you'll need to withdraw your contributions for that year (as well as any earnings or gains on those funds).

If your contributions (for the year when you were ineligible) are already invested in stock, you may need to place an online trade to sell the securities.

Once you have the exact amount of cash you're trying to remove sitting in your cash balance, you can complete the steps below for removing excess contributions:

1. Go to Accounts > Transfer Money > Deposit & Withdrawal (sign in required)
2. Select the From Account and To Account from the drop-down menus
3. Select the distribution type as 'Removal of Excess Contribution' and follow the steps to print, complete and return via fax or mail the IRA distribution form

The penalties for an excess contribution depend on how soon you catch and correct the excess contribution. If the excess contribution (plus any earnings on that excess) is removed prior to your individual tax-filing deadline (including extensions), the contribution is not subject to a 6% penalty tax. The earnings you remove are treated as ordinary income and may be subject to a 10% early distribution penalty if you're under 59 ½. If the excess contributions aren't removed prior to your tax-filing deadline, the excess contribution is subject to a 6% penalty for each year the issue isn't corrected.

Yes. It's a fancy way of saying a Traditional or Roth IRA funded and set up for the benefit of your spouse. The contribution limits and eligibility requirements for a spousal IRA are the same as a Traditional or Roth IRA.

Please see the eligibility requirements for a Traditional IRA or Roth IRA for more details.

Tip: For additional help and information, consult a qualified tax advisor or visit the IRS website.

While opening an IRA and ESA account, you're required to designate estate beneficiaries. Your beneficiaries (or entities) take ownership of your account assets when you pass away.

You'll need to name at least one primary beneficiary, and the maximum number of beneficiaries you're able to have is six total between primary and contingent beneficiaries.

If your beneficiaries change over time, make sure to edit this and keep us up to date.

Tip:

You sure can—a qualified retirement plan or QRP can be rolled into a Rollover IRA(Traditional IRA) with us.

To roll over your qualified retirement plan, such as a 401(k), 403(b), or 457(b), follow the instructions below:

1. Click on the Accounts tab > Overview > Forms & Applications (sign in required).
2. Next to `Roll over a retirement account to a ShareBuilder IRA', click Start now.
3. Select your Traditional IRA from the `Account' drop-down menu or open a Rollover IRA (Traditional IRA) if you don't have one already.
4. Select 401(k), 403(b), or 457(b) from the `From Account' drop-down menu and provide all of the information needed for your rollover request.
5. Review your rollover information and click Create and Print Form to get your pre-filled form.

What do you do with your pre-filled form?

Rolling over a 401(k):

1. Contact your former employer or plan administrator to complete a copy of their Distribution/Rollover form.
2. Make sure you provide them a copy of the pre-filled instruction form you printed so they know how to handle your rollover request.

Rolling over a 403(b) or 457(b):

1. Add your full Social Security number in the space provided on the form
2. Have the form notarized or Medallion Signature Guaranteed when you sign it
3. Print a copy of your most recent account statement for the `From Account' (your 403(b) or 457(b)
4. Mail or fax the pre-filled form, your 403(b) or 457(b) account statement, and any paperwork from your 403(b) or 457(b) plan (if we need to sign anything) using the address or fax number on the form

Important: Your rollover request will not be processed if you do not provide a recent account statement for the `From Account.' p>

Tip: Qualified retirement accounts can generally only be rolled over into a Rollover IRA (Traditional IRA). However, some rollovers can go into a Roth IRA. For more details, please contact a Retirement Specialist by calling toll-free 877-464-0292.

What rhymes with zero? How about hero? That's right: ShareBuilder is your hero because we don't charge you anything to roll over a qualified retirement plan.

If that sounds great to you (did we also mention we don't have maintenance fees on our IRAs?), follow these steps to roll over your qualified retirement plan, such as a 401(k), 403(b), or 457(b)

1. Go to Accounts > Overview > Forms & Applications (sign in required
2. Next to `Roll over a retirement account to a ShareBuilder IRA', click Start now
3. Select your Traditional IRA from the `Account' drop-down menu or open a Rollover IRA (Traditional IRA) if you don't have one already
4. Select 401(k), 403(b), or 457(b) from the `From Account' drop-down menu and provide all of the information needed for your rollover request.
5. Review your rollover information and click Create and Print Form to get your pre-filled form.

What do you do with your pre-filled form?

If rolling over a 401(k):

1. Contact your former employer or plan administrator to complete a copy of their Distribution/Rollover form.
2. Make sure you provide them a copy of the pre-filled instruction form you printed so they know how to handle your rollover request.

If rolling over a 403(b) or 457(b):

1. Add your full Social Security number in the space provided on the form.
2. Have the form notarized or Medallion Signature Guaranteed when you sign it
3. Print a copy of your most recent account statement for the `From Account' (your 403(b) or 457(b)
4. Mail or fax the pre-filled form, your 403(b) or 457(b) account statement, and any paperwork from your 403(b) or 457(b) plan (if we need to sign anything) using the address or fax number on the form

Important: Your rollover request will not be processed if you do not provide a recent account statement for the `From Account.'

Tip: Generally, qualified retirement accounts can only be rolled over into a Rollover IRA (Traditional IRA). However, certain rollovers can end up in a Roth IRA. For more details, please contact a Retirement Specialist at 877-464-0292.