Roth IRA and IRA Rollover Bonuses available with E-Trade:

Today if you choose to rollover your IRA into an E-Trade account, you can earn up to $500 in cash depending on how much money you transfer.

Get the $500 Cash Bonus Bonus Here!

Terms and Conditions:

- Credits for deposits of new funds or securities from accounts outside of E*TRADE will be made as follows: deposits over $250,000 receive $500; deposits between $100,000 and $249,999 receive $250; deposits between $50,000 and $99,999 receive $100; deposits between $25,000 and $49,999 receive $50.

- This offer is valid only for new or existing IRAs (limited to Rollover IRAs, Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs), but excludes E*TRADE Securities and Bank accounts.

- Accounts must be enrolled by December 31, 2011, the offer expiration date.

Also, if you’re looking to start a new IRA or Roth IRA account, E-Trade has some bonus options available for you as well. First of all, the same cash bonus structure applies. If you are opening the account with new funds, then see the terms and conditions above to find out how much cash you will be entitled too. Second, new account holders will get 60 days worth of free trades. Depending on how active you are with your account, this could quickly rack up to some serious savings considering E-Trade’s stock trades cost $9.99 per trade at retail price.

Trade Free for 60 Days – Bonus Available Here!

Setting up a new IRA? Get an $800 bonus from E-Trade!

Self-Directed Roth IRA quick facts:

- requires the account owner to make investment decisions and investments on behalf of the retirement plan

- Self-directed IRA accounts are generally not limited to a select group of asset types (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc)

- brokers permit their clients to engage in most or all investments

- possible investment options include, but are not limited to, real estate, mortgages, stocks, bank CDs, bonds, franchises, partnerships, etc.

By allowing the self-directed roth ira owner to not only control his/her own investment decisions but also allow such a wide range of investment choices, the owner can benefit from the diversity of their investments as well as their own independent research.

Contribution Limits and rule adjustments for 2010:

- $5,000 (or $6,000 for those age 50 and above)

- the $100,000 modified AGI limit for conversions to Roth IRAs has been eliminated this year (which means that married couples filing separate returns can now convert amounts to a Roth IRA)

Currently the deal is this, if you open your new IRA or Roth IRA with E-Trade they will grant you 100 free trades. Considering the fact that E-Trade and other brokerage accounts generally charge between $8-$20 per trade, makes this one very noteworthy offer. Essentially E-Trade is giving away (throughout the life of your Roth IRA) $800  for conducting business with them. Not too shabby…

Here are E-Trade’s Roth IRA account details:

• No minimums and no account fees when you sign up for online statements and confirms
• Contribute up to $5,000 or 100% of compensation, whichever is less. If you are over 50, you can contribute an additional $1,000 of compensation
• Flexibility to withdraw original contributions tax-and penalty-free at any time, for any reason
• Withdraw earnings tax-and penalty-free at age 59½ provided account has been open at least five years
• Withdraw earnings after five years for home purchase, college, or major medical expenses penalty-free
• No age limit on when you have to withdraw money

Learn more about this offer.

Reward IRA Savings Account

EVB (East Virginia Bank) offers, sort of a hybrid banking product, called the “Reward IRA Savings Account” it functions as a high yield savings account WITHIN an IRA account. Therefor you can enjoy the high FDIC insured rates of a high yield savings account while simultaneously benefiting from the tax breaks provided with a tradtional IRA account. The current rate on this savings account is 3.05% APY (national average sits at 1.95% APY). One thing to note with this savings product is that the rate is a variable one and is subject to change once the account is open.

Reward Checking Account

Much like the other rewards checking accounts and interest checking accounts in which BankVibe has covered, this account comes with monthly requirements. These requirements are 10 monthly debit transactions, 1 automatic ACH transfer payment, and receive monthly E-Statements.

What is unique about this account is that you can earn 3.01% APY on all balances up to $100,000. Most of these accounts only provide a premium interest rate on balances up to $25k, making this offer more advantageous to people with larger chunks of idle cash. This account, like the IRA savings account, is FDIC insured up to $250k.

If you have been looking into opening an IRA account, than this is probably your most lucrative offer if you don’t receive matching programs through your place of employment. With the US markets seemingly in the midst of a slight rebound, these 100 free trades may come in handy!

Requirements for E-trade IRA bonus:

• You must maintain a minimum balance of $25,000 (since this is an IRA account, you may wish to rollover your current IRA into the E-Trade IRA account if you cannot meet the minimum balance)
• Offer available with NEW E-Trade IRA accounts only
• Offer available for Roth IRA, traditional IRA, and IRA rollover
• Account must be opened by December 31, 2009

Considering the fact that they typically charge $7.99 per trade, this adds up to almost an $800 value!

Offer available for limited time.

E-Trade IRA Account promotion details

• You must maintain a minimum balance of $25,000 (since this is an IRA account, you may wish to rollover your current IRA into the E-Trade IRA account if you cannot meet the minimum balance)
• Offer available with NEW E-Trade IRA accounts only
• Offer available for Roth IRA, traditional IRA, and IRA rollover
• Account must be opened by December 31, 2009

www.RothIRA.com claims that, “Major income tax changes are highly likely in 2009. Since Roth IRAs have never been popular with Democrat party politicians, 2008 may be your last chance to set up a Roth IRA and to reap its benefits with tax-free growth.”

They go on to state that, “On May 17, 2006, President Bush signed the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 into law. This tax bill included a provision dealing with conversions of traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs. Starting in 2010, the existing $100,000 income test for converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA will no longer apply. Conversions that occur in 2010 will be able to have half of the taxable converted amount taxed in 2011 and the other half taxed in 2012.”

I personally believe the Roth IRA has flourished under the last 8 years (at least contributions to it by employed citizens) I also believe that it is too functional of an investment vehicle for it to be eliminated by the new administration. After all, isn’t the Roth IRA’s number one investor the middle-class worker?

What say you?

Indeed a Roth IRA is a gift that will keep on giving but it has it’s limitations on who can receive it. The Roth IRA is a good option for young people who are just entering the work force.

A Roth IRA may be preferable gift to a traditional IRA because withdrawals of contributions (not earnings) are generally tax and penalty free. However, traditional IRAs could benefit people in certain income brackets since contributions may be tax deductible.

As with brokerage accounts, you’ll need personal information for the beneficiary if you’re opening a custodial account. Beneficiaries also need to earn a paycheck to be eligible.

Today if you earn more than $100k/year you would not be eligible to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. However, a tiny window of opportunity presents itself beginning in 2010 for those people earning 100k plus.  This loophole is called the “Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005.” As of two years ago, you can wait until 2010 to do the conversion when the $100,000 income restriction no longer applies. If you decide to make the conversion in 2010, you may push half the taxable converted amount taxed in 2011 and half in 2012.

Although this opportunity may excite some of you, you must remember 2010 is still quite a ways away and Congress can still close this loophole before 2010. However, Congress rarely moves fast and until this time comes this may be an excellent way to circumvent your IRA contribution limits.

If you contribute to a retirement plan sponsored by your employer (401k, etc) then you should know that any contributions to a Traditional IRA are likely not tax deductible due to income restrictions. However, with this loophole, you can then convert those over to a Roth IRA free of charge because you’ve already paid the tax on them (only paying taxes on any gains you have made). For example, if you put $5,000 into a Traditional IRA and could deduct nothing. If by 2010, you see that your IRA is now worth $6,000, you could convert and only pay taxes on the $1,000 of gains, not the full $6,000.

As always, you should consult with certified tax professionals before converting any funds.

For starters, anyone over the age of 70 can make charitable contributions from their IRA of up to $100k to a recognized charity. This gift could count as your REQUIRED minimum distribution (and of course is tax free).

Second, if you have an adjustable income of $100k or less you should strongly consider converting your IRA into a ROTH IRA before January (especially if you are in or below the 15% tax bracket). The key to this conversion is to make sure you keep yourself within the same tax bracket, and of course, once you make this conversion your earnings grow tax-free and you are not required to make any distribution.