What Are Typical Fees to Manage an IRA?
Investors new to IRAs may be shocked at just how expensive their accounts can be, with fees such as setup, custodial and account maintenance costs, transaction expenses and fund expenses eating into savings over time.
Understanding these costs and devising ways to reduce them are vital components of making sound financial decisions for retirement.
Account Setup Fees
Roth and traditional IRAs are effective tools for saving for retirement, offering tax benefits that magnify compound interest’s effects. But these IRAs come with fees that can add up over time.
Account setup fees, transaction fees and management costs can quickly add up; so be wary of custodians that charge flat rates to avoid unnecessary hidden costs.
Your IRA fees can also be kept down by selecting funds and services with low expense ratios – such as Vanguard target-date funds with expense ratios of 0.15% or lower and newer robo-advisers such as Betterment that charge just 0.25% to manage the portfolio from start to finish.
If you choose to open a self-directed IRA, be certain you understand its standard fees and which can be paid using personal non-qualified assets. Paying investment expenses with non-qualified assets constitutes an unlawful act and can incur fines from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Account Maintenance Fees
Many providers charge account maintenance fees to cover administrative tasks. These may come in the form of either an annual flat fee, or they could vary based on your account balance and can range anywhere between $5-$10.
Other fees related to IRA investments may also arise, including transaction or commission fees when trading assets through brokerages, as well as commission fees on buying or selling individual securities. It’s essential for investors to be mindful of these expenses because they could significantly diminish long-term returns.
To limit these expenses, many IRA accounts offer zero trade fee investments with low or no asset management fees. When selecting an administrator for your IRA account, make sure to compare their fee schedules as even small percentage points can add up over time – fees add up quickly!
Wrap Fees
Wrap fees provide all-encompassing IRA custodial, investment advisory and trade execution services at one price point. Usually billed and payable from your IRA assets on a quarterly basis, they have historically been considered contributions into your IRA by the IRS.
Typically speaking, this approach is not ideal since incurring these fees from your retirement account reduces its overall return over time due to compounding.
PLR 200507021 of the IRS confirmed that wrap fees paid with outside/personal money rather than from retirement accounts remain non-taxable and allow you to maximize ongoing tax-deferred growth. Just ensure that they are properly documented each year if they’re to avoid being taxed as ordinary income on distribution from an IRA.
Investment Options
IRA providers typically provide their customers with an array of investment choices. Mutual funds offer broad diversification at lower fees than individual stocks; other popular choices are real estate and precious metals investments (though these tend to be for more experienced investors). Individual stocks or bonds may also be held within an IRA account, though these tend to carry greater risks and volatile returns than well-diversified mutual fund portfolios.
No matter which investments you select, be sure to carefully examine their fees. In particular, watch out for wrap fees which can eat away at your account balance over time – Pew Research estimates that rollovers to new accounts cost Americans billions in extra fees over decades.
To avoid incurring these fees, look for an IRA provider who charges no or a low management fee; Betterment charges a single flat fee of just 0.25% of your account balance each year as a one-off. Plus, its tax loss harvesting and automatic rebalancing capabilities come at no extra charge!
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