A Roth IRA is an individual retirement plan that, except as explained below, is subject to the rules that apply to a traditional IRA. It can be either an account or an annuity. Individual retirement accounts and annuities are described in traditional IRAs.
To be a Roth IRA, the account or annuity must be designated as a Roth IRA when it is set up. A deemed IRA can be a Roth IRA, but neither a SEP-IRA or SIMPLE-IRA can be designated as a Roth IRA. Details about Roth IRAs are contained in Publication 590 Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) and include:
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- Setting up your Roth IRA
- Contributions to your Roth IRA
- Distributions (withdrawals) from your Roth IRA.
Investing basics and lots of other tips are included at A Beginner’s Guide to Investing, information provided by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Watch Managing Your IRA (Text version) for more ideas about investing your IRA
Taxation of pension income – including distributions from Roth IRAs – is covered at Link and Learn Taxes, a self study course on the IRS web site..
More Roth IRA Resources
- Publication 590 Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)
- Publication 560 Retirement Plans for Small Business (SEP,SIMPLE, and Qualified Plans)
- Frequently Asked Questions about Roth IRAs
Web Site Resources
- FirstGov.gov is a one stop portal to access all federal government public websites.
- The latest retirement plan information can be found at www.irs.gov/ep.
- General tax information for individuals and businesses is located at http://www.irs.gov/.
- Other retirement plan information can be found on the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) site.
- The Social Security Administration site has information on your Social Security retirement benefit to help you plan your retirement savings strategy.
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has many publications on investing and more.
- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) site explains how to determine whether your IRA account is covered by deposit insurance.
