What Is a Roth IRA?

May 14, 2025
Roth IRAs are individual retirement accounts that you contribute to with after-tax dollars (income you've already paid taxes on). The potential benefit? Your savings can grow tax-free.

Like all IRAs, Roth IRAs allow you to potentially grow your savings through investments and get specific tax benefits. Because the income you contribute to a Roth IRA is taxed up front, there's no immediate tax break. But the money you contribute and any potential earnings you make on that money can grow tax-free.

Tax-free withdrawals

With a Roth IRA, you can withdraw your contributions at any time with no additional tax or penalty. After age 59 ½, you can also withdraw any earnings you've made with no tax or penalty as long as you've held the account for at least five years.

Roth IRAs can be an attractive choice for your retirement savings if your current tax rate is lower today than it will likely be in retirement. On the other hand, if you need a tax deduction now or plan to be in a lower tax bracket when you retire, a traditional IRA could make more sense.

"Many investors choose a Roth IRA because they'd rather pay taxes now and avoid owing additional taxes when they take their money out for retirement," explained Hayden Adams, CPA, CFP®, and director of tax planning at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. "When you look at it that way, the potential tax savings of a Roth IRA can be fairly significant, assuming your savings continue to grow and you earn a return on your investments."

Other potential benefits of a Roth IRA

Though Roth IRAs don't offer a tax deduction up front, they can provide other benefits beyond tax-free growth and withdrawals:

  • No restriction on withdrawals of contributions: You can withdrawal your contributions tax- and penalty-free at any time from a Roth account.
  • No required minimum distributions (RMDs): Unlike most retirement savings accounts, Roth IRAs are not subject to required minimum distributions (RMDs)—withdrawals the IRS requires you to take each year starting at age 73 (75 if you were born in 1960 or later).
  • No taxes for your heirs: If you pass your Roth IRA on to your heirs, they can generally withdraw the money tax-free as long as they follow the IRS distribution rules.

Bottom line on Roth IRAs

Roth IRAs are a useful retirement savings tool that can help you set money aside for potential growth. In addition to potentially boosting your retirement savings, they can provide greater flexibility for you and your heirs because of their unique tax rules. The trade-off is that you won't receive any near-term tax benefit. But you can look forward to potential tax savings in retirement.

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