Best Brokers for Roth IRAs 2019

If the kind of Individual Retirement Account you choose is a Roth, you've already made some important decisions. You've decided that you're willing to forego a tax deduction on your contributions now – you get them with a traditional IRA, if you qualify for deductions based on income and whether you are eligible for an employer's pension plan – in favor of tax-free income when you retire.

That's a big deal: Because you've already paid taxes on your contributions, you don't have to pay a penny more on the money (and everything it has earned) once you withdraw it when you're 59½ or older. With a traditional IRA, you're taxed at your regular income rate on everything you withdraw.

In addition, both types of accounts provide tax-free growth of your contributions until you retire, which is why finding the right online broker is crucial. You want to ensure the best chance of building IRA wealth.

The best brokers for your IRA category have excellent retirement planning tools and reporting. We looked for help determining how much to save for retirement as well as clear reports. We also made sure these brokers do not apply an annual fee for managing your IRA, so you can keep that money growing for your retirement. We have chosen the following brokers as the best options for a Roth IRA:

• Merrill Edge
• Fidelity Investments
• TD Ameritrade
• Charles Schwab
• E*TRADE

Merrill’s Portfolio Story feature is a terrific tool for retirement planning and investing for goals. It’s personalized to each customer and displays your asset allocation and your progress towards your goal in an inviting layout. You can drill down for more information about a particular holding using Merrill’s Stock Story feature, which also provides details on a company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings. A hypothetical trade calculator projects how a trade could impact your entire portfolio. 

Merrill has made a huge investment in its mobile apps, reflecting the number of customers who access its services using smartphones and tablets. The mobile apps also include a wealth of guidance and retirement planning content.

Merrill Edge also received awards for Best Web Trading Platforms, Best for Beginners, Best Stock Trading Apps and Best for IRAs. 

Fidelity is improving its retirement planning tools intended to engage Millennials with a game called Five Money Musts, which encourages new investors to get into the markets using exchange-traded funds. For those who are further down the road toward retirement, there are tools to help get organized as one’s retirement date approaches, including a clear explanation of how and when to take Social Security payments. Fidelity offers everything from managed accounts to self-service, and its robo-advisory, Fidelity Go, can be used for IRAs. 

Rolling an employer’s 401(k) balance into an IRA is a process that can be cumbersome and full of twisty passages, but Fidelity spells out the necessary steps clearly. Its retirement calculators and goal-setting tools are written in plain English and are easy to use.

Fidelity also received awards for Best Overall Online Brokers, Best for Beginners, Best Stock Trading Apps, Best for ETFs, Best for Penny Stocks, Best for IRAs, Best for International Trading, and Best Web Trading Platforms. 

TD Ameritrade customers can analyze the holdings in their retirement plans, via the company’s partnership with financial consultant FeeX, and are encouraged to generate higher returns by getting rid of expensive mutual funds and ETFs and replacing them with ETFs with lower management fees. The firm offers more than 300 ETFs that trade commission-free. You can go it alone and make your own investing decisions, or partner with one of TD Ameritrade’s financial planners, to set goals and track your progress. TD Ameritrade’s retirement calculator is available to the general public, so non-customers can check out the planning tools before opening an account.

TD Ameritrade also received awards for Best Overall Online Brokers, Best for Day Trading, Best for Options Trading, Best Web Trading Platforms, Best for Beginners, Best for ETFs, Best for IRAs and Best Stock Trading Apps.

Schwab offers a wide range of assets in which to invest and – after integrating the optionsXpress platform – also has some terrific options trading tools. Its Retirement and Planning section of the web platform helps customers understand the types of accounts available, including how to roll over an old 401(k) to an IRA. You can go it alone or sign on with a professional advisor to guide you on your journey.

Schwab’s robo-advisory, Intelligent Portfolios, can be used with any kind of IRA, if you’d prefer to use its no-fee automated service. As retirement nears, Schwab’s site is full of ways to design an approach to generating income safely. Its Retirement Income Quiz is worth taking just to see which areas of financial freedom you might want to study further.

Charles Schwab also received awards for Best Overall Online Brokers, Best Web Trading Platforms, Best for International Trading, Best for Options Trading, Best for Penny Stocks, Best for Beginners, Best for IRAs, Best for ETFs, and Best Stock Trading Apps. 

E*TRADE has made a concerted effort over the last two years to improve its retirement planning services. To that end, it offers its E*TRADE Complete IRA account for those who are eligible to begin withdrawing cash, including the ability to write a check and have that amount counted towards the client’s RMD. All the options capability from the OptionsHouse platform is now built into Power E*Trade, including the education and guidance. E*TRADE was one of the few larger brokers that survived the trading surges of 2017 and 2018 relatively smoothly as well. 

E*TRADE also received awards for Best Web Trading Platforms, Best for Options Trading, Best for ETFs, Best Stock Trading Apps, Best for IRAs, and Best for Beginners.