Roth IRA withdrawl/rollover question

[Guest genpao]

Ok, I'm glad I found this forum.

I'm 33 yrs old. I open a Roth (I don't have my paperwork on-hand right now) around 1999-2000 (I guess) I have close to 10K on the account right now.

I asked on my bank about taking some of that money out and they literally scared me about the 10% penalties + taxes to be paid, etc, etc. Same ppl. that asked me to wait to finish my auto lease to refinance my residual.. Ohh well..

Anyway, I already read that "down the road" after x amount of years I can take what I deposited.

My questions are:

How many years I have to wait to take some money out without penalties?

Can I rollover that Roth IRA to let's say Fidelity or Vanguard?

TIA,

GenPao

[BPickerCPA]

You can withdraw your annual contributions AT ANY TIME with NO penalty or tax.

The rules are different for conversion amounts, and different again for what is referred to as account income.

[John G]

Barry Picker is, of course, correct. Contributions can be withdrawn at any time for any reason. Conversions are different and do have a five year wait period. But.......

You really should think twice, make that three times, before withdrawing funds from a Roth. Money is on sale right now. You can get very low cost loans, signature lines of credit, zero interest 3-12 month credit cards, home equity loans, refinances, etc. because money is in recent historic terms very cheap right now. Taking money out of a Roth diminishes the long term benefit of this tax shelter. You may not be able to contritute in future years because of income/tax filing status or because Congress changes the rules.

[Guest genpao]

Thanks both!

They continue telling me that I'm going to be fined if I touch that money.

Where online I can find information so I can bring it with me where says that I can widthdrawl my contributions without penalties or tax?

One last question: can I move the RothIRA from my bank to another institution like Fidelity or Vanguard?

TIA,

GenPao

[Lame Duck]

You should look at IRS Publication 590, which is available on the IRS website - www.irs.gov.

[John G]

Fined by whom? The bank or the IRS?

Are you sure that your account is a Roth and not a standard IRA? If it is a Roth, the advice you are getting here is correct. No IRS penalties or fees as long as the withdrawal is from a contributory account and does not exceed the total original contributions. If you actually don't have a Roth, the bank may have coded your account improperly. It is easy for us to say they are wrong.... but perhaps IRA and Roth are being used to casually. IRA's can have early withdrawal penalties. Roths are different and may not. IRS Pub 590 is also available at all major IRS offices and my mail. It is the key document on IRAs.

Sure, you can do a custodian to custodian transfer. Here's how. Find a new custodian. Fill out a transfer of assets application and attach a copy of your last monthly statement. The new custodian does the rest. Very easy. Your job is just to periodically check to make sure it gets done. Probably takes less than 10 business days unless snail mail is involved.

Understand that your bank custodian may charge you a fee for terminating (transfering) the account. Sometimes the new custodian will reimburse you for those fees up to a fixed amount. Ask. This termination fee may be what they are talking about. If this is your normal bank, and you continue to get "bull" from them, you might want to speak to a supervisor. Your custodian should not be deliberately misleading you. More likely, they are poorly trained clerks who should not better.

Note a custodian to custodian transfer does not count as a withdrawal. A withdrawal followed in LESS than 60 DAYS with a redeposit into a like IRA or Roth also does not contribute taxes.

[Guest heikejohn]

The bank might be talking about "Their OWN" penalties; not IRS penalty.

What kind of investment are in your ROTH? Some mutual funds have back end fees & sales charges & account fees & ..... Banks love to sell those!!

[Appleby]

The bank might be talking about "Their OWN" penalties; not IRS penalty.

What kind of investment are in your ROTH? Some mutual funds have back end fees & sales charges & account fees & ..... Banks love to sell those!!

For instance ...if your IRA is a certificate of deposit (CD), the bank may charge an early withdrawal penalty if you withdraw any amount from the CD before the maturity date. If they are referring to the 10 percent early distribution penalty (excise tax) assesses by the IRA when the distribution occurs before age 59 ½, the responses above would apply.