An individual retirement accountSee subsection (a) of and the Treasury regulation at 26 C.F.R. sec. 1.408-2. (IRA) in the United States is a type of retirement savings plan offered by many financial institutions that provides tax advantages for retirement savings. It is a trust that holds investment assets purchased with a taxpayer's earned income for the taxpayer's eventual benefit in old age. An individual retirement account is a type of individual retirement arrangementSee 26 C.F.R. sec. 1.408-4. as described in IRS Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs). Other arrangements include individual retirement annuities and employer-established benefit trusts.See, generally, subsection (b) of and 26 C.F.R. sec. 1.408-3.
Types There are several types of IRAs: Traditional IRA – Contributions are mostly tax-deductible (often simplified as "money is deposited before tax" or "contributions are made with pre-tax assets"), no transactions within the IRA are taxed, and withdrawals in retirement are taxed as income (except for those portions of the withdrawal corresponding to contributions that were not deducted). Depending upon the nature of the contribution, a traditional IRA may be a "deductible IRA" or a "non-deductible IRA". Traditional IRAs were introduced with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) as a retirement saving option for self-employed individuals and others without access to an employer plan. The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 opened it to all taxpayers. Roth IRA – Contributions are non-deductible and transactions within the IRA have no tax impact. The contributions may be withdrawn at any time without penalty, and earnings may be withdrawn tax-free in retirement. The Roth IRA was created by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. It is named after its proponent, Senator William V. Roth Jr. (not an acronym, as often assumed). myRA – a 2014 Obama administration initiative based on the Roth IRA, which can invest only in government bonds; phased out in 2017. SEP IRA – a provision that allows an employer (typically a small business or self-employed individual) to make retirement plan contributions into a Traditional IRA established in the employee's name, instead of to a pension fund in the company's name. SIMPLE IRA – a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees that requires employer matching contributions to the plan whenever an employee makes a contribution. The plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, but with lower contribution limits and simpler (and thus less costly) administration. Although it is termed an IRA, it is treated separately. Conduit IRA – a traditional IRA funded exclusively with a transfer from a qualified plan, such as a 401(k) plan.
Conduit IRAs have fallen in use due to 2001 legislation that allowed for direct transfers between qualified plans without an intermediate IRA, but plan administrators may choose to accept transfers only from conduit IRAs. Transferring funds from a qualified plan to a conduit IRA preserves certain tax and asset protection advantages that apply to the qualified plan.IRS Publication 590-A (2020)
A self-directed IRA is considered the same by the tax code, but refers to IRAs where the custodian allows the investor wider flexibility in choosing investments, typically including alternative investments. Some examples of these alternative investments are: real estate, private mortgages, private company stock, oil and gas limited partnerships, precious metals, horses, and intellectual property. While the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) has placed a few restrictions on what can be invested in, the IRA custodian may impose additional restrictions on what assets they will custody. Self-directed IRA custodians, or IRA custodians who specialize in alternative investments, are better equipped to handle transactions involving alternative investments.
Some IRA custodians and some investment funds specialize in socially responsible investing, sometimes using public environmental, social and corporate governance ratings.
Starting with the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA), many of the restrictions of what type of funds could be rolled into an IRA and what type of plans IRA funds could be rolled into were significantly relaxed. Additional legislation since 2001 has further relaxed restrictions. Essentially, most retirement plans can be rolled into an IRA after meeting certain criteria, and most retirement plans can accept funds from an IRA. An example of an exception is a non-governmental 457 plan which cannot be rolled into anything but another non-governmental 457 plan.
The tax treatment of the above types of IRAs (except for Roth IRAs) are very similar, particularly for rules regarding distributions. SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs also have additional rules similar to those for qualified plans governing how contributions can and must be made and what employees are qualified to participate.
Custodians
Custodians can include: Banks Credit unions Mutual fund companies, sometimes for the purpose of offering their own mutual funds Brokerage firms, either independent or "captive" (affiliated with a specific mutual fund or insurance company) Life insurance companies
Funding Individual retirement arrangements were introduced in 1974 with the enactment of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Taxpayers could contribute up to fifteen percent of their annual income or $1,500 each year, whichever was less, and reduce their taxable income by the amount of their contributions. The contributions could be invested in a special United States bond paying six percent interest, annuities that begin paying upon reaching age 59, or a trust maintained by a bank or an insurance company.
Initially, ERISA restricted IRAs to workers who were not covered by a qualified employment-based retirement plan. In 1981, the Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA) allowed all working taxpayers under the age of 70 to contribute to an IRA, regardless of their coverage under a qualified plan. It also raised the maximum annual contribution to $2,000 and allowed participants to contribute $250 on behalf of a nonworking spouse.
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 phased out the deduction for IRA contributions among workers covered by an employment-based retirement plan who earned more than $35,000 if single or over $50,000 if married filing jointly. Other taxpayers could still make nondeductible contributions to an IRA.
The maximum amount allowed as an IRA contribution was $1,500 from 1975 to 1981, $2,000 from 1982 to 2001, $3,000 from 2002 to 2004, $4,000 from 2005 to 2007, $5,000 from 2008 to 2012, $5,500 from 2013 to 2018, and $6,000 from 2019 to 2022. In tax year 2023, the maximum amount allowed was $6,500. Beginning in tax year 2024, the limit was $7,000. Beginning in tax year 2026, the limit was $7,500. Beginning in 2002, those over 50 years old could make an additional contribution of up to $1,000 called a "catch-up contribution".
Current limitations: The IRS allows an investor to revoke a new IRA, without penalty, for seven calendar days after opening it. An IRA can be funded only with cash or cash equivalents. Attempting to transfer any other type of asset into the IRA is a prohibited transaction and disqualifies the fund from its beneficial tax treatment. Additionally, an IRA (or any other tax-advantaged retirement plan) can be funded only with what the IRS calls "taxable compensation". This in turn means that certain types of income cannot be used to contribute to an IRA; these include but are not limited to: Any unearned taxable income. Any tax-exempt income, apart from military combat pay. Social Security payments, whether retirement pensions or disability payments, may or may not be taxable, but in either case are not eligible. Child support payments received. (On the other hand, alimony and separate maintenance payments, if taxable, are eligible.) Rollovers, transfers, and conversions between IRAs and other retirement arrangements can include any asset. The total contributions a person can make to all of their traditional and Roth IRAs cannot be more than the lesser amount of either their earned income for the year or $6,000 ($7,000 if the contributor is age 50 or older). The latter figure is examined annually to determine if an inflationary adjustment is needed and has been in effect from 2019 to 2021. It may have been updated for 2026 to $7,500. This limit applies to the total annual contributions to both Roth IRAs and traditional IRAs. For example, a person aged 45, who put $4,000 into a traditional IRA this year so far, can either put $2,000 more into this traditional IRA, or $2,000 in a Roth IRA, or some combination of those. The amount of the traditional IRA contributions that can be deducted is partially reduced for levels of income beyond a threshold, and eliminated beyond another threshold, if the contributor or the contributor's spouse is covered by an employer-based retirement plan. The dollar amounts of the thresholds vary depending on tax filing status (single, married, etc.) and on which spouse is covered at work (see IRS Publication 590-A, "Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)").
Restricted investments Once money is inside an IRA, the IRA owner can direct the custodian to use the cash to purchase most types of publicly traded securities (traditional investments), and non-publicly traded securities (alternative investments). Specific assets such as collectibles (e.g., art, baseball cards, and rare coins) and life insurance cannot be held in an IRA. The U.S. Internal Revenue Code (IRC) only outlines what is not allowed in an IRA. Some assets are allowed according to the IRC, but the custodians may add additional restrictions for accounts held in their custody. For example, the IRC allows an IRA to own a piece of rental property, but certain custodians may not allow this to be held in their custody.
While there are only a few restrictions on what can be invested inside an IRA, some restrictions pertain to actions which would create a prohibited transaction with those investments. For example, an IRA can own a piece of rental real estate, but the IRA owner cannot receive or provide any immediate benefit from/to this real estate investment. An example of such benefit would be the use of the real estate as the owner's personal residence, allowing a parent to live in the property, or allowing the IRA account owner to fix a leaky toilet. The IRS specifically states that custodians may impose their own policies above the rules imposed by the IRS. Neither custodians nor administrators can provide advice.
Many IRA custodians limit available investments to traditional brokerage accounts such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Investments in an asset class such as real estate would only be permitted in an IRA if the real estate is held indirectly via a security such as a publicly traded or non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT). Self-directed IRA custodians/administrators can allow real estate and other non-traditional assets held in forms other than a REIT, such as a piece of rental property, raw land, or fishing rights.
Publicly traded securities such as options, futures or other derivatives are allowed in IRAs, but certain custodians or brokers may restrict their use. For example, some options brokers allow their IRA accounts to hold stock options, but others do not. Using certain derivatives or investments that involve leverage may be allowed by the IRC, it may also cause the IRA to pay taxes under the rules of Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT). Self-directed IRAs which hold alternative investments such as real estate, horses, or intellectual property, can involve more complexity than IRAs which only hold stocks or mutual funds.