Best IRA Firms Pricing

Best IRA Firms Services

Overview of the Best IRA Companies

Before opening an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) at any brokerage firm, be sure to take a look at the IRA lineups of the following five brokers:

J.P. Morgan Investing

An IRA with J.P. Morgan Investing can be opened in either automated or self-directed mode. In the former version, a glide slope can be added to the IRA to make the account less aggressive as the date of retirement approaches. Not all robo accounts with the broker will qualify for this add-on, however. Answers must be provided to an online questionnaire during account opening, and these answers will determine the account features (the time to retirement must be at least 10 years, and the risk tolerance must be Moderate or more aggressive).

Once an IRA has a glide path attached to it, the path cannot be turned off. However, the broker’s questionnaire can be retaken, and appropriate answers will turn it off. Once an account reaches the target year, the glide path simply flattens, and the automated system maintains the risk-return allocation at that point.





Not all robo brokers offer a glide-path service, so J.P. Morgan Automated Investing’s program looks quite attractive here. However, there is a $500 minimum requirement to get started, and we shouldn’t fail to mention the 0.35% annual fee.

Self-directed IRAs with J.P. Morgan Investing have no glide-path option, but they have no fees and no minimums. They do have access to lifecycle mutual funds, which serve as a decent substitute for the glide-path system. These funds have their own glide paths.





During our research, we found 189 lifecycle funds. None of them have any loads or transaction fees at J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing, which make them a pretty good deal. Expense ratios vary from to 1.00% to 0.08%.

Perhaps the biggest difference between robo and self-directed IRAs is in the available investment classes. The automated version only trades a handful of ETFs, while self-directed accounts get a larger list of exchange-traded funds plus stocks, bonds, and 3,000+ mutual funds.

Both groups of IRA customers will find a decent selection of educational materials on the broker’s website that focus on retirement topics. Some of the resources are in video format, although most are articles. Here are a few examples:

- On your way to retirement day: 3 easy steps to consider
- What is an IRA?
- How much do you need to retire?





J.P. Morgan Investing only offers two IRA types: Roth and traditional. A 401k account at an old employer can be rolled over into either IRA version, and in fact, there is a current promotion worth up to $700 for doing so.

There is no annual IRA fee at J.P. Morgan Investing. However, the brokerage firm does charge $75 to close an IRA, and this is where it differs from other brokers who have eliminated such fees.

J.P. Morgan Investing does not offer any type of financial-planning services that retirement savers may want to take advantage of. Its affiliate company J.P. Morgan Wealth Management does, and the cost is 1.45% with a variety of minimum deposit requirements. The annual fee begins dropping at $250,000 in assets.

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Chase Incentive

Get up to $700 when you open and fund a J.P. Morgan account.

Open Chase Account

Webull

Webull will accept the transfer of an existing IRA from a rival brokerage firm. A transfer valued at $5,000 or more will receive a $75 bonus for making the switch. However, before deciding to jump ship, be aware that there are three big differences between an IRA at Webull and one at J.P. Morgan Investing:

(1) Webull has no managed accounts.
(2) It has no affiliated company that provides financial advice or any type of planning service that retirement savers may need.
(3) It has no lifecycle mutual funds (or any other mutual funds) that IRAs can invest in. Webull also doesn’t offer fixed-income securities.

Although these are significant downsides, self-directed traders can nevertheless find some good deals with the company’s IRA service. First of all, there are no annual or closeout fees, which is an advantage over J.P. Morgan Investing.

Second, Webull has some really good trading software, which simply doesn’t exist at J.P. Morgan Investing in any form. Up first is its browser platform. Launched from its website, this trading software delivers some really good resources that beginners and seasoned pros alike will find useful. Charting can be accomplished in full-screen mode, and there are many tools. A practice mode is available that can really help to learn the platform.





A desktop version of this computer program is available, too. It has a lot of the same features, although there are some differences. For example, the desktop system can save layouts (multi-chart trading and custom are examples).





The third strength Webull offers here is fractional-share trading, which can be really beneficial to small IRAs. J.P. Morgan Investing doesn’t offer this service, except in the case of mutual funds, which typically have higher minimums than Webull’s $5 minimum.

The biggest weakness Webull has for IRA investors is perhaps in the area of retirement education. There is very little information of value on Webull’s website for retirement planning. The broker is clearly designed for active trading rather than long-term financial planning.





Although Webull does offer trading in cryptocurrencies, these assets cannot be traded inside a retirement account. Moreover, an IRA at Webull cannot be margin enabled, which means day trading is not possible inside an IRA (J.P. Morgan Investing does not offer margin accounts at all).

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Webull Incentive

Get 12 free stocks when you open an account.

Open WeBull Account

TD Ameritrade

Margin trading is available at TD Ameritrade, and an IRA can be margin enabled, and this is the broker-dealer’s first big advantage here. Once an IRA is margin-enabled, it can day trade because unsettled funds can be used to trade securities. This is not possible inside a cash account, a status which many IRAs will be relegated to.





Turning on margin capability inside a TD Ameritrade retirement account is quite easy to do on the website. Head over to the Client Services tab in the top menu and click on My Profile in the drop-down window (this has to be done on the classic website; the newer slimmed-down version won’t work; to switch back to the classic website, go to the support link in the top-right corner of the Next Gen website and select “classic website” in the drop-down menu). On the My Profile page, look for the margin trading link in the Elections & routing section.

Besides margin trading, TD Ameritrade offers futures and forex trading, and this availability again presents another advantage over the first two brokers, or any other firm in this review for that matter. Forex and futures trading inside an IRA both require an account value of at least $25,000, and some IRA types are ineligible for futures trading.





Another strength that TD Ameritrade has for retirement savers is the sheer number of IRA versions available with the broker. Besides Roth and traditional accounts, TD Ameritrade has Minor, SEP, SIMPLE, and Beneficiary IRAs. The Minor IRA must have a custodian as a sponsor. As with any other IRA version, the Minor account does require earned income. It is available in Roth mode, too.





The Beneficiary IRA at TD Ameritrade is intended for an individual who has inherited an IRA or an employer-sponsored retirement plan, such as a 401k. The SEP and SIMPLE accounts are designed for small businesses and self-employed persons. They are not available in Roth versions, per IRS policy.

The major weakness that TD Ameritrade has compared to J.P. Morgan Investing is the lack of a robo account or any type of advisory service. However, self-directed traders will find many educational materials on the TD Ameritrade website. In fact, TD Ameritrade outperforms its rivals here with a very large library of learning resources, many of which are devoted to retirement topics. On the classic website, a Planning & Retirement tab hosts many useful resources, including an IRA selection wizard, contribution limits, and details on required minimum distributions (RMDs).

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TD Ameritrade Incentive

Get $0 commissions and ACAT fee reimbursement.

Open TD Ameritrade Account

M1 Finance

Individual Retirement Accounts will also be found at M1 Finance. Many of the IRA resources we found at TD Ameritrade, however, won’t be found. The M1 website doesn’t have any of the retirement-planning tools that the TD Ameritrade website has, for example. Plus, futures and forex cannot be traded in an IRA for the sheer fact that these asset classes aren’t available.





M1 Finance only offers trading in stocks, ETFs, and closed-end funds. These securities are placed into baskets called Pies. M1’s automated program places trades at certain intervals during the trading day for these Pies. Customers can create their own Pies or invest in M1’s professionally-built Pies. In either case, there are no investment-advisory accounts. They are all self-directed at M1 Finance.

Some of the M1-built Pies are lifecycle Pies designed for retirement planning. Each target year has three return-risk profile choices: aggressive, conservative, and moderate. These Pies are similar to lifecycle mutual funds.





An IRA at M1 Finance can be opened in Roth, traditional, or SEP format. There are no other IRA accounts available. Every time one of these IRAs is closed, M1 assesses a termination fee. Although there is no annual IRA fee, if an account has a balance between $0.01 and $20 with no activity for more than 90 days, it will be charged a $20 inactivity fee.

Although M1 Finance does offer a margin service called Borrow, it cannot be used with an IRA.





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M1 Finance Incentive

Up to $500 cash bonus for making a deposit at M1 Finance.

Open M1 Finance Account

Firstrade

Rounding out our list of IRA brokers is Firstrade. The firm has two personal IRAs (Roth and traditional) and two small-business IRAs (SEP and SIMPLE). These accounts can only be opened in self-directed mode at Firstrade because the company doesn’t offer any type of investment management.

A self-directed IRA can trade equities, mutual funds, ETFs, closed-end funds, and bonds. Like Webull and M1 Finance, Firstrade offers cryptocurrency trading, but the service is not available inside of IRAs.





One of Firstrade’s greatest strengths (for both tax-deferred and taxable accounts) is its list of available mutual funds. This is over 16,000 products that are open to new investors.

During our probing with Firstrade’s mutual fund screener, we found hundreds of lifecycle mutual funds with target dates ranging from 2010 to 2065. Not a single one has a transaction fee at Firstrade, and some are no-load products as well.

IRA account holders will find a moderate amount of information on retirement topics on Firstrade’s website. Relevant resources will be found, conveniently enough, under the Retirement tab in the top menu. We found a very brief retirement calculator with the following inputs:

- Your age today
- Your Contribution per Year
- Age that you want to retire
- Rate of Return

Missing on this calculator is the all-important starting balance, so we don’t recommend using this one. Scroll down on the same page to find other financial-planning calculators, including:

- What will my qualified plan(s) be worth at retirement?
- How much will I need to save for retirement?
- Are my current retirement savings sufficient?





These calculators use lots of criteria, including amount currently saved, so they’re more useful.

Firstrade has no on-going fees of any kind on its tax-deferred accounts, nor is there any fee to close one. Paper statements, confirmations, and even tax documents do have fees, however.





Firstrade will accept a rollover of an old employer’s retirement plan into an IRA. Firstrade charges no fee for this service. If the outgoing firm does, Firstrade has an account transfer fee special that will refund up to $200 in any fee charged for the transfer if it is valued at $2,500 or more.

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Firstrade Incentive

Earn up to $4,000 cash bonus and $200 transfer fee rebate.

Open Firstrade Account

Best IRA Companies Recap

All five IRA brokers in this survey have their own unique strengths and weaknesses. TD Ameritrade by far has the best learning resources for self-directed retirement savers and the most number of IRA types. Webull and M1 Finance are the only two firms with fractional-share trading, while J.P. Morgan Investing is the clear winner for investment advice. Here’s a summary of some important IRA features to remember to look for:

Promotions

TD Ameritrade: Get $0 commissions and ACAT fee reimbursement.

J.P. Morgan: Get up to $700 when you open and fund a J.P. Morgan account.

Webull: Get 12 free stocks when you open an account.

M1 Finance: Up to $500 cash bonus for making a deposit at M1 Finance.

Firstrade: Earn up to $4,000 cash bonus and $200 transfer fee rebate.