14 Best IRA Accounts of September 2024 - NerdWallet (2024)

Note: Some of the IRA promotions above won’t apply for first-time depositors due to IRA contribution limits of $7,000 in 2024 ($8,000 if 50 or older). We’ve included promotions with low deposit requirements where available. You may be eligible for the IRA promotion if you're rolling over your existing IRA balance from another provider or account. If you're rolling over a 401(k), check to be sure the promotion will apply to you as rules can vary.

More about why we picked these as the top IRA account providers

It's no surprise Fidelity tops our list — the brokers' name is nearly synonymous with retirement investing and IRAs, and the company services many workplace retirement plans. In fact, that's an advantage that isn't factored into our analysis, but it may be factored into your decision about which IRA account to choose: If you have a 401(k) or other plan at work that's administered by Fidelity, opening an IRA under the same roof may be an easy decision. But Fidelity also stands out for other reasons — the company's website offers innovative tools and expertise to help you in your retirement planning, and it has a wide mutual fund selection, including several of its own index funds that charge no fees.

Like Fidelity, Charles Schwab is one of the leading providers of retirement accounts, including workplace plans, such as 401(k)s, so it's no surprise that it stands out for IRAs. The company offers a variety of different types of IRA accounts, including self-employed plans. Schwab stands out for having helpful retirement planning tools — including educational content and calculators — and a large selection of mutual funds. It earns five stars in our analysis across three categories that we heavily consider in our methodology: number of no-transaction-fee mutual funds, number of low-expense-ratio funds and number of low-minimum funds. That makes it easy and inexpensive for retirement investors to start an IRA. The company also offers a service that manages your portfolio for you — Charles Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.

We'll be honest and say our testers were surprised by how well Interactive Brokers scored when it comes to its IRA accounts — the broker is known for catering to active traders. But there are plenty of investors who want to trade in their IRA accounts — and there can be tax benefits for doing so — and Interactive Brokers deserves a spot on this list for its mutual fund offering alone. The broker has one of the largest mutual fund selections available, and our testers found the user experience of opening an account surprisingly smooth, even for novice investors.

J.P. Morgan makes this list because it's a well-rounded broker that's ideal for both beginner retirement investors and current Chase customers. The company offers a respectable selection of mutual funds alongside a portfolio builder tool ($2,500 minimum required) that's exactly what the name implies — it helps guide you through the process of building a portfolio.

IRA accounts are where Vanguard shines — the company is known for its low-cost index funds, which form the basis of many retirement accounts. The broker is especially appealing to investors who want direct access to Vanguard funds — while the overall fund selection here is on the smaller side, the quality of the funds and associated costs stand out from many other brokers. One hitch: Many Vanguard funds do have investment minimums of $1,000 or more. Vanguard's robo-advisor service, Vanguard Digital, also makes this list for those who want help assembling Vanguard funds into a diversified IRA account. It offers many of the IRA account benefits of Vanguard alongside portfolio management.

Similar to J.P. Morgan, Merrill Edge benefits from seamless integration with a large bank — in this case, Bank of America. If you're an existing Bank of America customer, you'll find opening an IRA at Merrill Edge to be extremely convenient. But that's not the only reason why Merrill ends up here — the brokerage also stands out for its high-quality educational content, which will be appreciated by retirement investors, especially those new to IRA accounts.

E*TRADE is another well-rounded broker that appeals to stock traders and long-term investors alike, which makes the firm a good fit for many. Like Firstrade, E*TRADE charges no transaction fees for mutual fund purchases, and the company has a large selection of fund options. E*TRADE also stood out to our reviewers for its high-quality retirement planning tools.

Betterment has for years ranked highly in our analysis of robo-advisors, and it's no surprise they show up here — for users who want low-fee management of their IRA accounts with the option to purchase a la cart help from financial advisors, there's almost no match. Betterment will manage your IRA portfolio for you so you can be completely hands-off, which many long-term investors prefer. The service costs just .25% of your account balance each year.

SoFi stands out for one big reason: No management fees. The company will build and manage your IRA account completely for free. The investments used still carry management fees, but those are also among the lowest we've seen — they average just 0.03%. SoFi also offers unlimited access to certified financial planners, so there's a lifeline if you have a financial question. And SoFi gives IRA investors a 1% matching contribution, which is only matched by Robinhood.

Wealthfront often tops our list of the best robo-advisors, and it's no different when it comes to IRAs. The company offers an impressive number of portfolio options, including the ability to purchase individual stocks and an automated bond portfolio that will appeal to IRA investors who are getting closer to (or who are in) retirement. Wealthfront's online tools, including its retirement planning and goal tools, really impressed our testers.

Ellevest has built its business around serving female investors, a group that is often underserved in the investment industry. As such, many of the company's planning tools keep women's specific needs in mind, factoring in different lifetime earnings curves and longer lifespans. Ellevest provides a number of innovative planning tools to help IRA investors juggle multiple goals, but the company charges $12 per month, which can be on the high side depending on your IRA balance.

Robinhood is known for active trading, and it pioneered the idea of free stock trading, as well as active trading via mobile app. But in early 2023, the broker started offering IRAs with a 1% match, which was previously unavailable within these accounts. (Matching contributions are common through employer plans like 401(k)s.) The account also offers a robo-advisor-like feature that will suggest portfolios of ETFs.

What's the best IRA according to Reddit?

We analyzed nearly 700 Reddit comments and upvotes to determine which IRA providers Reddit users liked best. Reddit users and NerdWallet's IRA account reviewers agree: Fidelity is a clear winner.

More than 36% of Reddit users who contributed to IRA-focused Reddit threads said that Fidelity was their preferred IRA provider. Vanguard came in second at nearly 30% and Schwab came in third at 28.5%. Robinhood came in last with only eight comments and upvotes.

How do you choose an IRA account?

Picking the best IRA account will depend a bit on what matters most to you. Below, we detail some criteria to keep in mind:

Low-cost investments: For long-term retirement savings success, make sure high fees don’t eat into your investment returns. Open your IRA at a broker or robo-advisor that offers low-cost investments. For many retirement investors, a smart investment is a low-cost mutual fund. Investing in a handful of mutual funds is an easy way to own a diversified portfolio, because each mutual fund invests in dozens, hundreds or even thousands of companies. With mutual funds, one of the main fees to focus on is the expense ratio. Ideally, you’re investing in mutual funds with an expense ratio of less than about 0.5%.

Low fees: While you’re keeping an eye on expense ratios, also keep other fees in mind. If you’re a do-it-yourself investor who plans to open an IRA at a broker, make sure you pick a broker with no trading commissions (or a high number of commission-free ETFs and no-transaction-fee mutual funds) and low transfer and other fees.

Investment help: If you want guidance picking investments, a robo-advisor probably is a better choice for you than a broker. All robo-advisors offer either ready-to-go investment portfolios or provide some help picking investments.

Customer support: Make sure the broker or robo-advisor offers customer support that meets your needs, whether that’s live chat, telephone support or access to human financial planners.

How do you open an IRA?

It’s a simple process: You can open an IRA online, at any broker or robo-advisor (though we’re partial to the ones above, for the reasons we outlined). It takes about 15 minutes, and you’ll need to provide some personal information, including your name, birthdate, mailing address and Social Security number. Here’s our guide to opening an IRA, which also includes information about how to fund and invest the account.

Can you lose money in an IRA?

It is possible for an IRA account to lose value and even drop to zero (though that's unlikely). The key to sidestepping this risk is to make sure your investments are diversified. That means investing in a variety of companies — of different sizes and in different industries and locations — and in both stocks and bonds. That way, when any one slice of your investments faces trouble, the others are there to keep your overall portfolio on a steady course.

The easiest path to a diversified portfolio is with mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. One single fund can invest in thousands of companies, making it a simple one-stop shop for investment diversification.

How do you invest an IRA?

Unlike savings accounts, IRAs don’t pay a set interest rate or return. Once you’ve put money into the account, you need to select investments; otherwise, your money will sit in cash, which isn’t ideal for a long-term goal like retirement. Most IRA providers offer a wide range of investment options, including individual stocks, bonds and mutual funds. If that sounds out of your league, you can open your IRA at a robo-advisor, which will manage your investments for you for a small fee. The robo-advisors on this page are listed under the heading for hands-off investors —investors who want a robo-advisor to invest the IRA account for them.

Which bank has the best IRA?

You might have noticed we don’t include any bank IRA accounts in our roundup of the best IRAs. Generally, an investment broker or robo-advisor is a better option than a bank for an IRA account, because for a long-term goal like retirement, you want to tap into the power of the stock market to grow your money.

Bank IRAs generally offer access to savings products such as certificates of deposit. CDs are savings products that guarantee a rate of return as long as you leave your money in for a specific period of time. Historically, stock market returns average about 10% per year. CD rates are typically much lower. Yes, the stock market comes with the risk that, in any given year, your account may lose value — but investors who leave their money in the market, even through those down days, generally enjoy hefty gains over time.

If, despite that, you decide to go with a bank CD, be sure to pick among the IRA accounts with the best IRA CD rates so you know you’re getting the best possible rate of return for that type of account.