Etrade Roth IRA Review
Etrade is a US Based financial services company based in New York City, New York.
It was founded in 1982 and currently has over 3,000 employees helping you invest in your retirement to secure a bright future for you and your family.
In this Etrade Roth IRA review, you will learn:
- Etrade Roth IRA Basics
- Etrade Roth IRA IRA Advantages
- Etrade Roth IRA Benefits
- Customer Service Review
- Commonly Asked Questions
- My Final Recommendation
- How to get $600 For Signing Up Today
- How to Open your Roth IRA Account
Etrade Roth IRA Basics
How Does a Roth IRA work?
Etrade Roth IRA provides tax-free retirement savings for investors 18 years of age or older. While not tax deductible, your Roth IRA contributions are available for withdrawal at any time for any purpose with no taxes or penalties.
What is the age limit?
Earnings, however, cannot be withdrawn tax and penalty free until age 59½ provided the Roth IRA has been open at least five years.
Let’s quickly go over the features of Etrade Roth IRA.
Etrade Roth IRA Account Rules & Advantages
Etrade is well trusted and a household name in the retirement & investing community so you get a lot of good features like no fees and ability to convert to Roth IRA in the future.
Here’s a complete list of account rules and features:
- No annual Roth IRA fees
- No account minimum to open
- Contribution limits are $5,500 per year or 100% of compensation. If you are over 50, you can contribute an additional $1,000 of compensation .
- Income limits are $114,000 for single people; $181,000 for married couples filing jointly
- Withdraw earnings tax-and penalty-free at age 59½ provided account has been open at least five years
- Ability to convert non-deductible Etrade Traditional IRA contributions to a Roth IRA tax-free
- No age limit on when to withdrawal money
Etrade Roth IRA Benefits
The #1 benefit of starting a Roth IRA is to start building a retirement savings that grows using smart investment choices.
Here’s a list of reasons why I like Etrade IRA accounts:
- Pay $0 fees that eat away at your IRA balancee
- Withdraw your earnings tax-free
- Flexible enough to withdraw earnings at any-time without penalties
- 100% safe and secure investments with a trusted brand like Etrade
Etrade Roth IRA Fees & Commissions
Etrade offers no annual fees or minimum fees on Roth IRA accounts. They do charge commissions fees for trading stocks and etfs with their trading platform:
- Stocks, Options & ETFs: $9.99 per trade or $7.99 for 150+ trades or $6.99 for $1,500+ trades
- Mutual Funds: $0 for no-load funds and $19.99 for transaction-fee funds
- Bonds: $1.00
- Options contracts: $0.75 per contract
- Forex Trades: Free
Here’s a breakdown of each type of fee and what we think of it.
Stocks, Options & ETFs Fees
$9.99 stock trades is fairly competitive fee structure similar to TD Ameritrade and OptionsXpress. It’s reasonable considering the amount of support and tools available at Etrade.
If you’re a volume trader, you get a bigger discount for only completing 150+ trades. This is much better than other brokerage firms that offer a flat-rate trading fee regardless of volume.
If $9.99 is too much for you, then consider TradeKing ($4.95 per trade) and OptionsHouse ($4.75 per trade) as much cheaper Etrade alternatives.
Mutual Fund Fees
$19.99 Etrade mutual fund fees are extremely reasonable and much cheaper than their competitors, Fidelity ($49.95) and TD Ameritrade ($49.95). This is a great value for such a large investment brokerage.
No load funds are free and provide an easy way to invest in mutual funds without the extra costs.
Bond Fees
Etrade offers flat rate $1 bond fees for your Roth IRA account. US Treasury bond trades are Free.
Options Fees
Etrade has one of the best options pricing structure in the investment brokerage industry.
Award Winning Etrade Customer Service
Etrade offers 24/7 telephone customer service for all Roth IRA clients and won the 2011 International Service Award for customer service excellence.
Visit a local branch for help
Each local Etrade branch is operated by experienced financial consultants to answer your questions and assist you with your Roth IRA needs.
There are hundreds of local Etrade branches open as well to handle your questions & concerns in person.
I live in Washington, DC and Etrade has a nice full service local branch right downtown.
One of the good things about Etrade is they are big enough to handle most Roth IRA problems. If you need assistance, it’s only a phone call away or short drive to the local branch.
What are the Etrade Roth IRA beneficiary rules & options?
A spouse or inheritor can roll over a Roth IRA into a benficiary IRA to inherit any assets from your account. A Beneficiary IRA allows the beneficiary to keep their inherited IRA assets tax-deferred until they are distributed according to IRS regulations.
Final Recommendation: Etrade Traditional IRA is Great For Retirement Investors
If you are looking to open a Roth IRA account, I think Etrade is a great choice. You get no free IRA account with plenty of investment options along with 24/7 customer service for affordable trading fees.
Etrade is a unique brokerage that offers full service brokerage services at discount online broker prices.
Most full service brokerages like Fidelity and TD Ameritrade have higher fees with similar services.
The added bonus of either picking up the phone or visiting a local branch in your US city brings peace of mind and adds safety to your investment decisions.
$600 Etrade Roth IRA Promotional & Bonus Codes
Not only does Etrade provide world class IRA services, but you can receive up to $600 IRA bonus when you open your IRA account.
How Does it work?
Get up to $600 cash credit for deposits or transfers made within 45 days of account open.
- Deposit/Transfer $25,000 to $100,000 -> $200 bonus
- Deposit/Transfer $100,000 to $250,000 -> $300 bonus
- Deposit/Transfer $250,000+ -> $600 bonus
If you have at least $25,000, then you are eligible for a IRA transfer account bonus. Etrade offers one of the biggest account opening bonuses in the investment industry where many brokerages actually charge you a transfer fee.
It’s nice to see Etrade pay the transfer fees and save you a few hundred dollars in the process.
How to Open Etrade Roth IRA
It’s really easy to open a Roth IRA account. The application process takes around 5 to 10 minutes.
- Click the “Apply Now” button on the right hand side
- Create a new Etrade account or use your existing one
- Fill out step 2 of the application with your personal information
- Follow step 3 with account setup
- Confirm your information and submit your application.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, I am very impressed with Etrade and really recommend them to anybody looking to open a roth IRA retirement account.
Etrade is easy to use and great for:
- Young investors
- College students
- Full-time working employees
- Seasoned veteran investors
- Baby boomers looking to switch their traditional IRA to a different company
We all remember those funny Etrade baby commercials during the super bowl and they show how Etrade is a friendly, professional brokerage company for many different types of investors.
Hope this helps and good luck with your retirement investments!
