Compare Individual IRAs

What you'll find on this page:

Which IRA is right for you? Compare the types of plans available and select the right one for you.

The type of account you open and the source of your funding will help determine the funding methods available for the account you open.

See Funding Methods and Timelines

Traditional, Rollover, and Roth IRAs

Traditional IRA Rollover IRA Roth IRA
Reasons for Choosing

You can make tax-deductable contributions.

You are in a high-income bracket and are prohibited from making contributions to a Roth account.

You can defer paying taxes on contributions and/or earnings until you start making withdrawals.

You are younger than 70½ and have earned income.

You have assets from a previous employer-sponsored plan and you want to roll them into an IRA.1

You have an IRA with another custodian and are rolling over assets to PENSCO.

Contributions aren't tax-deductable, but your earnings grow tax-deferred and withdrawals are tax-free if you are over age 59½.

Unlike a traditional IRA, you don't have to make annual withdrawals at a certain age.

You expect to be in a higher tax bracket in the future.
Available Funding Methods

IRA cash transfer

IRA in-kind transfer

IRA in-kind transfer

IRA in-kind direct rollover designation

IRA 60-day cash rollover

IRA cash direct rollover designation

IRA in-kind transfer

IRA in-kind direct rollover designation

IRA 60-day cash rollover

IRA cash direct rollover designation

Roth conversion

Open and fund an account

PENSCO will open your account within 2 business days of receiving your completed and signed account application.

We recommend consulting with a tax professional.

Other Considerations

  • If you are performing a Roth conversion, you may need to work with your financial or tax advisor to determine if you meet all of the criteria for the conversion.
  • Consult your tax advisor before making annual contributions to your rollover IRA. Making contributions to your rollover IRA may make your assets ineligible to roll back into an employer-sponsored plan in the future. By making a contribution to a rollover IRA you may be commingling qualified plan assets, such as 401(k) assets, 403(b) plan assets, and/or governmental 457(b) plan assets, within your rollover IRA with your annual IRA contributions. 1

1 The Pension Protection Act of 2006 allows for the consolidation of various types of retirement account balances. However, if you want the option of rolling eligible assets from your IRA into another employer-sponsored retirement plan in the future, you may want to consider keeping separate IRA accounts for each retirement plan type that you are rolling over until the IRS issues further regulations on portability of retirement plan assets. Since not all employer-sponsored plans will accept comingled funds, you may want to consider making your annual IRA contribution to a separate IRA. Consult your tax or financial advisor.