In many cases, a Roth IRA may be a better option than a 401 (k) retirement plan, as it offers more investment options, including the ability to invest in gold through an IRA account, and greater tax benefits. It can be especially useful if you think you'll find yourself in a higher tax bracket later on. However, if your income is too high to contribute to a Roth, your employer offers you a counterpart, and you want to save more money each year, it's hard to beat a 401 (k) plan. Roth IRAs, on the other hand, are funded with after-tax dollars, so the money grows tax-free.
Investing in gold through an IRA account can be a great way to diversify your retirement portfolio and take advantage of the potential benefits of Gold in an IRA Account. You can also withdraw your contributions at any time (but not your earnings) without any tax penalty, unlike 401 (k) plans, which normally impose a 10% penalty if you access the money early. After you've contributed up to the IRA limit, think about funding your 401 (k) to get the pre-tax benefit it offers. Transferring it to an IRA will give you far more investment options than your employer's plan. This gives Roth IRA holders a greater degree of investment freedom than employees with 401 (k) plans (although the fees charged for 401 (k) are usually higher).
Remember that if your income exceeds certain thresholds and you or your spouse invest money in a work plan, your ability to deduct traditional IRA contributions may be reduced or eliminated. An often overlooked difference between a 401 (k) and an IRA relates to the IRS rules regarding distribution taxes. The biggest difference between a Roth IRA and a 401 (k) is that anyone with earned income can open and fund a Roth IRA, but a 401 (k) is only available at their workplace. In other words, the amount you can contribute to a Roth IRA depends, in part, on how much you earned in a year.
If you think you'll be in a higher tax bracket or that tax rates will generally be higher when you start to need the money from your IRA, switching to a Roth and taking on taxes now may be in your best interest. Once you get the balance, consider exhausting your IRA for the year, returning to 401 (k), and resuming contributions there. Depending on the type of IRA you choose, Roth or traditional, you can get your tax relief now or in the future when you start withdrawing funds for retirement. You can consider a Roth IRA even if your employer offers a 401 (k) because of minimal fees and greater investment and withdrawal flexibility.
A Roth IRA is a good option if you don't qualify to deduct traditional IRA contributions or if you don't mind giving up the immediate IRA tax deduction in exchange for increasing your investments without taxes and tax-free withdrawals when you retire. However, regardless of the fund (or funds) you choose, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) doesn't tax investment gains until the funds are withdrawn (whereas withdrawals from a Roth IRA are not taxable). If you're under 59 and a half years old, it's also much easier to withdraw funds from a Roth IRA than from a traditional IRA. Again, the tax-deferral benefit of a company-sponsored plan is a good reason to allocate money to a 401 (k) after you've funded a traditional or Roth IRA.
If you do, you usually have just 60 days from the date you received it to transfer it to an IRA.
